PRESS RELEASE

Exhibtion Berta Fischer, Björn Dahlem, Naum Gabo Into Space

Haus am Waldsee International Art in Berlin

18 October 2020 to 10 January 2021

Press preview: Fri, 16 October 2020, 11 am. Berta Fischer and Björn Dahlem will be present.

„Into Space“ deals with the human longing for space, weightlessness, distant galaxies and the belief in hitherto incomprehensible energies beyond our perception. Three sculp- tors reflect upon the interfaces between art and science over a century and from Berlin. Following the exhibition „Lynn Chadwick, Hans Uhlmann, Katja Strunz“, which explored the subject of „Fold“ at Haus am Waldsee in 2019, Björn Dahlem (*1974), Berta Fischer (*1973) and Naum Gabo (1890 - 1977) are now taking up an artistic conversation about space and time between 1920 and 2020 with installations and sculptures.

For Naum Gabo, art after the end of WWI was a means of gaining knowledge about time and space and the physics of our planet. After studying medicine, natural sciences, philosophy and architecture from 1910 in Munich, he declared his commitment to a sculpture of experiment, new materials and possibilities of making space and time visible in his „Realistic Manifesto“, which was published in Moscow in 1920 in collaboration with his brother, the painter Antoine Pevsner. In 1922 Gabo came from Moscow to Berlin, where he very quickly became one of the most avant-garde innovators in art. His later world-famous sculptures made of transparent plas- tics seemed like science fiction to his contemporaries.

Berta Fischer (*1973) is one of the few international sculptors who works with acrylic glass. Whi- le the transparent, easily bendable material was first invented in the 1920s and found its way into sculpture by Naum Gabo, the mass material has meanwhile conquered the world of adverti- sing and design. Today, plexiglass is available in a wide range of colours, thicknesses and sizes. The intrinsically brittle material can be formed easily through the application of heat. However, forming impulses need to be set abruptly. This material-determined procedure gives controlled chance a wide scope within Berta Fischer‘s work. As a result, her works are reminiscent of lu- minous or reflective high-tech materials that appear to float in space in whirling motion. Beyond gravity they lend visibility to the disorderly, chaotic and unpredictable. Depending on the situa- tion and lighting, the installations can be read as universes, milky ways or vertical gardens. Björn Dahlem (*1974) uses rather profane materials such as roof battens, fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, wire and found objects for his large-scale sculptures. His examination of space and time is based on the theories of philosophy, astro- and particle physics up to the latest findings in quantum mechanics. His work deals with the connection between science and philosophy as well as the boundaries and transitions from natural science to theology. In the 1990s, Björn Dah- lem became known for his artistic representations of interstellar space, galaxies, superclusters or black holes, which are also realised in the exhibition with new expansive installations.

The Jewish artist Naum Gabo emigrated to Paris, in 1932, then to England and to the United States in 1946, where he exhibited at the MIT in Boston and gave lectures at Harvard in the 1950s. He died world-famous in 1977 in Connecticut. His last solo exhibition in Germany took place in 1986 in Berlin. With the exhibition „Into Space“, Haus am Waldsee takes up the thread of this great innovator of 20th century sculpture and reflects influence and continuation in the work of two young contemporaries who are setting new standards today.

Curated by: Dr. Katja Blomberg, director of Haus am Waldsee

Catalogue in German and English at Verlag Walther König. With texts by Matilde Felix and Katja Blomberg. Hardcover, 64 pages, 24 Euro.

High-res images are available in the press section on our website. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Press contact Erik Günther [email protected] Tel +49 (0) 30 801 89 35 www.hausamwaldsee.de

The exhibition is rendered possible through:

Haus am Waldsee is supported by the Bezirksamt Steglitz-Zehlendorf – Amt für Weiterbildung und Kultur, Fachbereich Kultur and the Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa.

HAUS AM WALDSEE – INTERNATIONALE KUNST IN BERLIN I Argentinische Allee 30 I 14163 Berlin Tel.: +49 (0) 30 801 89 35 I www.hausamwaldsee.de