Contemporary art exhibition shown inside a 1970s residential high-rise apartment on the 29th floor, using the vertical architecture as part of the artistic experience:
The interior architecure of the iconic Colonia-Haus in Cologne is temporarily detached from its functional context through a curatorial intervention: Under the title DIE SENKRECHTE (THE VERTICAL), contemporary art encounters the legen-dary 1970s residential architecture of the highrise on the 29th floor. Conceived as a group exhibition, individual works come together and unfold in relation to the architecture structure as well as the social implications of living. Spaces that are otherwise private are made accessible for a limited period time.
Anna Fasshauer, born 1975 in Cologne; lives and works in Berlin
Sculptor Anna Fasshauer works at the intersection of sculpture and space. Her works are always created through her own physical effort, without industrial assistance. Within the context of the Colonia-Haus, her most recent work El Patron, which was on view until recently at the Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, enters into dialogue with the building’s strict verticality.
Heinz Breloh, born 1940 in Hilden, died 2001 in Cologne; lived and worked in Cologne
Heinz Breloh approached sites from a conceptual perspective. The artist shaped his works through a process involving his entire body. With the works Z-1470 and Z-1417, photographic representations are shown that were partially overpainted using his fingers and other parts of his body: in this way, an intimate, horizontal corporeality is added to the space.
Ole Blank, born 1990 in Lübeck; lives and works in Hanover
In the video performance Attempt to Fake a Lightning, Ole Blank pilots a specially constructed FPV drone to the top of Cologne Cathedral and channels an artificially generated electrical lightning strike into the lightning conductor. The work translates lightning as a symbol of divine power into a technically controlled event, connecting sacred architecture with contemporary drone technology. In the context of THE VERTICAL, the work gains an additional spatial dimension, as the real view of the cathedral intertwines the exhibition site with the site of action.
Anna K.E., born 1986 in Tbilisi; lives and works in New York and Düsseldorf
Enamelled wall works by Anna K.E. unfold in THE VERTICAL a formally and concep-tually architectural visual language that resonates with the structure of the buil-ding. Her rigorously geometric compositions recall abstract spatial systems: on the 29th floor, they encounter an existing architecture that is likewise shaped by lines and repetitions.
Benoit Platéus, born 1972; lives and works in Brussels
Sculptural works by Benoit Platéus integrate into the apartment in a manner that is almost imperceptible. His coloured urethane objects, reminiscent of canisters and containers from analogue photochemistry, at first glance appear like casually placed everyday items – things that simply belong in the context of a lived-in high-rise. Only upon closer inspection does it become clear that they are ambivalent art objects: abstracted memories cast in resin of materials that may seem familiar, yet slip out of reality through their colour and materiality.
Ulrich Pester, born 1980 in Hanover; lives and works in Cologne
The painterly openness and the absence of clear contours in Ulrich Pester’s works allow them to merge with their surroundings. Everyday objects encounter one another in ways that make them appear strange and absurd. The motif of the hole plays a central role in his imagery: in this exhibition, it extends into the space itself.
Anna Lena Grau, born 1980 in Hamburg; lives and works in Hamburg and Murnau
In her series Medusa, the natural wonder of the jellyfish, with its veil-like “non-body,” once again serves as a marvellous muse. Delicate formations of colour hover on the wall in a series of object paintings. Vibrant and of inexplicable elegance, plastic bags fixed in laminate are transformed into constructivist abstractions.
Colin Penno, born 1990 in Mülheim an der Ruhr; lives and works in Essen
Two bronzes by Colin Penno enter into a tense dialogue with the architecture on the balcony of the Colonia-Haus. As reliefs situated between image and sculpture, they possess a tectonic, almost structural presence that echoes the vertical organisation of the building. Their surfaces bear traces of transformation and compression—processes reminiscent of urban material ageing. In the private outdoor space of the apartment, the bronzes appear like fragmentary architectures: at once robust and open, autonomous and yet closely connected to the built environment.
Gustav Körnig, born in Seehausen/Altmark; lives and works in Leipzig
Gustav Körnig presents six paintings whose creation is marked by craftsmanship, precision and repetition. Positioned between painting, graphic art and drawing, Körnig develops his images from a graphic approach, consciously recomposing, layering or duplicating motifs. The works carry within them a dense emotional tension while simultaneously opening up an atmospheric space – a “mist” in which personal experience and individual perception meet. In the private context of the apartment, they unfold a quiet intimacy and invite viewers to move tentatively through image and mood.
Herbert Warmuth, born 1960 in Schweinfurt; lives and works in Frankfurt am Main
Two works by Herbert Warmuth open up a quiet dialogue within the apartment. In Warmuth’s practice, colour, glass and support exist in a relationship of control and openness: fractures, layers and reflections allow the painting to extend beyond its surface and into the surrounding space. Within the domestic context, the works unfold a calm presence that sensitively interweaves perception and environment.
Lucia Sotnikova, born 1986 in Volgograd, Russia; lives and works in Düsseldorf
The work Offenbach by Lucia Sotnikova negotiates oppositions between intimacy and monumentality. Like the building itself, it connects private spheres of life with a strong urban presence. A quiet reflection on role models, consumption and “invisib-le” influence is mirrored in the rational, serial structure of the house.
Hannah Kuhlmann, born 1989 in Cologne; lives and works in Cologne
The triptych by Hannah Kuhlmann consists of three objects arranged vertically in space: ceiling, wall and floor. Its point of departure is the figure of the Three Wise Men – read not religiously, but in terms of material and meaning, in relation to the city of Cologne and the situation of the high-rise. Three materials are used – copper, steel and brass – forming a closed system of earth, sky and culture. The triptych moves between sacredness and everyday life, sign and substance, ascent and decay, anchoring these oppositions in the specific site of the exhibition.
–Katie Eva Gaj, Curator
