Esther Kläs at the KOLUMBA Museum, Cologne, Germany

"The subtle interplay between the I and the me.
Art and Choreography"
KOLUMBA Museum, Cologne, Germany 
September 14, 2020 - August 16, 2021

»The subtle interplay between the I and the me« is an exhibition with eight chapters, part of which will be open to the public while being set up, and subject to constant change and recombination. It brings together works by artists who subject traditional images of the body to critical revision in their search for new forms of representation. Such artists arrive at a new kind of subjectivity grounded in their own body, throwing hitherto valid concepts out of the window and initiating new criteria to apply to representation. The exhibition takes dance off the stage into the action space of the museum, in order to bring the various means of expression of the different art forms into direct contact with each other and make the overriding issues tangible: How can the body be represented? What role do corporeal experiences and memories play in how we perceive the world? Does the body think in a specific manner? Can elements of choreographic thinking be identified in fine art? How does a work of art address the viewer and incorporate them into the setting? Is an exhibition a kind of choreography? What role do institutional regulations and guidelines play?

Chapter 1: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas: »Dark Red«
Chapter 2:Richard Tuttle, from 24 September
Chapter 3: Esther Kläs, from 1 October, 2020
Chapter 4: Duane Michals, from 8 October
Chapter 5: Bernhard Leitner, from 15 October
Chapter 6: Hannah Villiger, from 22 October
Chapter 7: Office for eyes, nose, tongue, mouth, heart, hand and mask (covering all) (Nicole Baginski, Tanja Geiß, Patrick Henkel, Eva Kot'átková, Susanne Kümpel, Andreas Maus, Michael Müller, Anna Rossa), from 29 October
Chapter 8: Heinz Breloh, from 5 November