29 october 2022, Flor Linckens
A two-artist ode to the oeuvre of Bernd Lohaus
Until 6 November, ZEIT in Antwerp shows an ode to the work of Bernd Lohaus. In the exhibition 'Zwischen meinen Ichs', his work is shown alongside the work of two artists who admire him: Laurence Petrone and Erik Haemers. In addition, you see a series of lamps by the Brazilian designer Dimitrih Correa, combined — entirely in the style of the gallery — with the work of a series of post-war, abstract artists. For this exhibition, the gallery entered into a close collaboration with the Bernd Lohaus Foundation, the foundation behind the influential German sculptor, painter and draftsman. It was founded in 2012, two years after his death, by his wife and two children.
Berndt Lohaus, Nur ich als, 1986
Born in Germany in 1940, Bernd Lohaus had no part in the war that coincided with his early years. He initially studied sculpture, before joining the art academy in Dusseldorf, led by Joseph Beuys who would act as his mentor. As Lohaus's career unfolded, he began to develop in a variety of media: in addition to sculpture, he also worked in installation, painting, drawing and writing. He often distilled his materials — usually wood, stone and paper — to their essence, stripped of all superfluous elements. These works appear simple, but are imbued with a certain poetry in the form of words and sentences. They generally enter into a relation with their environment. Lohaus's work was strongly influenced by language, but also by movements such as Fluxus, Arte Povera, Minimal Art and materialism.
He would live in Antwerp for most of his life. In 1965 he and his (future) wife Anny De Decker opened the avant garde Wide White Space gallery (in their home), where they showed work by Marcel Broodthaers, James Lee Byars, Daniel Buren, Panamarenko, Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter, Christo and Joseph Beuys. He also continued to work on his own practice. Lohaus regularly found his material along the banks of the Scheldt, originating from the harbour, which he subsequently processed minimally. He also had a preference for Azobe wood, one of the hardest woods from West Africa. His work has been shown in a major retrospective at SMAK in Ghent, the M HKA and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and in 1992 his work was featured in documenta IX. It has been included in the Pinault Collection, among others.
The M HKA in Antwerp states that “his works explore the relationship between 'Ich' and 'Du' (I and you), between the artist, the viewer and the work of art, but also between people themselves and between people and things in general.” Lohaus herself also stated: “Ich bin zwischen meinen Ichs”, a sentence that inspired Laurence Petrone when she was asked to contribute to the yet to be formed exhibition in ZEIT.
Laurence Petrone, 10lemme en 7, 2021, ZEIT
Petrone was born 47 years after Lohaus and recently graduated from the sculpture department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In addition to being a sculptor, she is also a historian and author and during the course of the exhibition in ZEIT she presented her new book 'Weerloos', an anthology of the work of the well-known Belgian art historian, writer and designer Hans Theys. Like Lohaus, Petrone is also fascinated by the relationships between the artist, the work, the space in which it is located and the viewer. In addition, she shares his love for language. In the exhibition in ZEIT, some of her poems can be read on lead sheets. Another work of hers on show consists of pieces of limestone, reinforcing steel and rope and was part of her graduation collection NOUS (Autrefois Toi). Like Lohaus, she makes use of some recurring materials; in her case copper, lead, turmeric, corn and marble.
Erik Haemers, frame 05, 2019, ZEIT
ZEIT also asked Erik Haemers to participate in the opening exhibition of the new season and when it turned out that he too is a lover of Lohaus's work, the direction of the exhibition became clear. Haemers works in a combination of analog and digital techniques, with a special preference for the infinite possibilities that are offered by industrial technology. In addition to being an artist, he also works as a curator. Haemers regularly titles his works with series names such as 'grid', 'drop', 'layers', 'frame', 'corner' and 'lines', but otherwise the viewer is given every opportunity to interpret the work in complete freedom. The artist himself is inspired by, among other things, art history, architecture, design, fashion and photography.
In addition to the work of these artists, 'Zwischen meinen Ichs' in ZEIT also shows work by artists like Sol LeWitt, Pol Mara and Heinz Mack, accompanied by a series of unique, sculptural lamps by the Brazilian designer Dimitrih Correa, who studied both at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and at the Dublin Institute of Technology. For these lamps, he uses recycled hardwood that salvages from buildings in Rio de Janeiro that are destined for demolition — and in this way continue to live on, in a different way.
Dimitrih Correa, Reticências, 2021, ZEIT
