Gregor Schneider: the new exhibition at Haus Esters in Krefeld

From May 4 to Sept. 21, HausEsters in Krefeld, Germany, will be transformed into a laboratory of ideas thanks to a new installation by Gregor Schneider (Mönchengladbach, 1969), one of the most internationally known contemporary artists. The exhibition, titled Welcome, introduces a new chapter in his long research on space as a fundamental element of his work. Schneider, who is famous for his Haus u r a project in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt, continues to explore the relationship between art and architecture in an ongoing and never trivial dialogue with the places he chooses to inhabit and transform. The exhibition, curated by Sylvia Martin, invites visitors to immerse themselves in a sensory experience where the space of Haus Esters is experienced in a direct way. The artist, who will be present at the May 4 Open House, will take the public through her reflections on the work, opening a dialogue that invites discovery and understanding of how art can interact with everyday life.

Schneider’s work has always been a profound investigation into the conception of space. Since 1985, the artist has built, within a house, overlapping rooms, as in a kind of map of intimacy and architectural perception. Each of his works is an act of extreme precision, like a collection of rooms that become autonomous entities but inextricably linked to each other, creating a sense of tension between the material and the viewer. His vision of “home” is completely decontextualized, fragmented, as if the house itself were a living organism in constant evolution.

The current installation, Welcome, fits within this path Schneider has charted over the years. In addition to being an artist known for his extraordinary ability to construct spaces within other spaces, Schneider is also an innovator in the field of contemporary sculpture. In 2001, his Haus u r a won him the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, and in 2023 he received the Ernst Franz Vogelmann Prize, an award that underscored his seminal contribution to the recent history of sculpture. The exhibition is an extension of the concept of “home” that Schneider has developed over the years. In this new work, the artist focuses on the interface between art and life, exploring the role the built environment plays in our daily lives, gestures and perceptions. Haus Esters, a place that has previously hosted other works by the artist, aims to be a good stage for this reflection. The comparison with the architectural space of Haus Esters, which is more than 70 years old, marks another step in the long history of interactions between the artist and the place.

In 1994, Gregor Schneider had already exhibited at Haus Lange, another of Krefeld’s museum residences, and in 2000 he worked on a garden house at Haus Esters. With his new project, Schneider ideally completes a cycle, concluding his dialogue with the site through a specific work that is inextricably linked to the past but, at the same time, reinterprets it in a modern and innovative key. At a time when architecture and art often seem to separate, Gregor Schneider’s work becomes a statement of intent: a space is never neutral. It is always charged with meaning, history and feeling. For Schneider, every project is an act of mental and material construction that seeks to answer fundamental questions about existence and the interaction between the individual and the world around him.

Gregor Schneider: the new exhibition at Haus Esters in Krefeld

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