Art and architecture in dialogue
With the “kunstundwohnen” project series, MIWO opens residential complexes that were built in the 1950s and 1960s and feature typical design elements of the architecture of that time to artistic interventions that reinterpret the architectural structures characteristic of the post-war period and “modernize” them with a contemporary perspective “. Since the first project "Bild mit Wohnung" with the artist Detlef Beer in 2006, an artist has been invited every year to deal artistically with this inventory of the MIWO and to reflect on the residential building as a place of everyday existence. The projects realized so far are characterized by an artistic variety that reflects the range of contemporary art production and discourses: From performative approaches (Detlef Beer, "Bild mit Wohnung", 2006) to minimalist interventions in the outdoor area (Martin Noel, "Bekennen Farb ’, 2008; Tim Trastenroth, ‘Raumstein’, 2010) and temporary film projections that bring a concise visual shift in perception into the architectural situation for just a short period of time (Claudia Desgranges, ‘Überblendung’, 2009) through to participatory art strategies. In 2011, for example, Martin Pfeifle installed a sculpture made of a total of 64 neopolen foam cubes in the green outdoor area of the Lutfridstrasse residential area, which the residents also use as places to sit and play and whose composition can be constantly changed. In this way, the sculpture became a communication medium in the social context of the housing complex (Martin Pfeifle, "RADO", 2011).
The site-related and on-site artistic interventions often refer to those architectural elements such as passageways or stairwells that are no longer present in the everyday attention of the residents. With strategies such as over-marking the casual with color (Friedhelm Falke, "Das habitual picture", 2007; Martin Noel, "Bekennen Farbe", 2008) or all-over painting in the stairwell (Karim Noureldin, "Tupelo", 2012; Esther Stocker , "GEOMETRIA", 2013; Maik and Dirk Löbbert, "Staircase", 2014; Jan van der Ploeg "Wall Painting No. 412", 2015...) not only does the overlooked become visible again, but a significance of the place is created. Only art can identify places and add a new layer of meaning to the architecture.
This "art in construction" at MIWO therefore also poses a challenge for the artists. On the one hand, there is initially a certain limitation due to the existing architectural structure of the MIWO residential buildings, but on the other hand, a welcome experimental one opens up Space. Artists are often confronted with the situation of deviating from their own, practiced aesthetic processes and techniques. This already starts with the selection of other materials or substrates on which the work is to be mounted and dimensions that differ from studio practice. “Art in architecture” means entering a frameless space in which art as art must first find its place. In addition, there is the crucial fact that the work of art encounters an audience - the residents*, for whom the "art in the building" will be part of their daily environment in the future. All "kunstundwohnen" projects are flanked by an educational program in the form of vernissages, art history lectures and catalogues. The positive response from tenants has confirmed the goal of the commitment: to actively promote contemporary art and at the same time strengthen the community aspect.
text: dr Jutta Voorhoeve
All art and living projects:
art and living #1 | 2006 | Detlef Beer "Picture with apartment" |
art and living #2 | 2007 | Friedhelm Falke "The usual picture" |
art and living #3 | 2008 | Martin Noël "Show your colors" |
art and living #4 | 2009 | Claudia Desgrange's "Dissolve" |
art and living #5 | 2010 | Tim Trantenroth "Space Stone" |
art and living #6 | 2011 | Martin Pfeifle "RADO" |
art and living #7 | 2012 | Karim Noureldin "Tupelo" |
art and living #8 | 2013 | Esther Stocker "GEOMETRIA" |
art and living #9 | 2014 | Maik and Dirk Löbbert "Staircase" |
art and living #10 | 2015 | Jan van der Ploeg, "Wall Painting 412" |
art and living #11 | 2017 | Thomas Vinson "Magdalena K." |
art and living #12 | 2018 | Martin Pfeifle "Onda" |
art and living #13 | 2019 | Schirin Kretschmann "Fifties" |
art and living #14 | 2020 | Birte Bosse "Ludfrid invited to peace" |
art and living #15 | 2021 | Roman Lang "ELEVATORESK" |
art and living #16 | 2022 | Lorenzo Pompa "Ups and Downs in Daily Life" |
Kunstundwohnen #1 In 2006, the project "Picture with Apartment" by the painter Detlef Beer took place in the MIWO buildings. MIWO made eight apartments available to the artist for 14 days each over the course of the year. Detlef Beer decided to paint a picture in each apartment. At the start of the project series, Dr. Gabriele Uelsberg, director of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, into the artist's work. The project was accompanied by documentation by photographer Peter Oszvald and texts by art historian Dr. Barbara Hausmann accompanied. Already on November 23, 2006 a major exhibition by Detlef Beer opened in the Forum +in het Concertgebouw in Bruges. This exhibition made explicit reference to the picture with apartment project in the MIWO buildings. The project was documented by the catalog "Detlef Beer - picture with apartment". On August 7th, 2008 an exhibition with drawings by Detlef Beer took place in the Villa Faupel. Photographer: Peter Oszvald, Bonn
Kunstundwohnen #2 In 2007 the Cologne painter Friedhelm Falke was invited, who realized three artistic works by the end of 2007 in the house on Sebastianstraße in Bonn-Poppelsdorf. A mural was created in the basement apartment at Sebastianstrasse 76 in a two-room apartment and two murals at Sebastianstrasse 74. Another wall work by Friedhelm Falke can be found in the stairwell at Sebastianstraße 74. Falke called this art and living project “The usual picture”. At the end of the project, an exhibition of the artist's studio works took place on February 16, 2008. The works are documented in the catalog “Friedhelm Falke – The usual picture”. Friedhelm Falke (born 1958 in Verden/Aller) lives and works as an artist in Cologne. He studied Fine Art at the HBK Braunschweig and has received numerous awards and prizes, including a scholarship from the Villa Massimo in Rome in 1992. Falke has had many solo exhibitions. His work can be found in both private and public collections. www.friedhelmfalke.de Photographer: David Janecêk, Cologne
Kunstundwohnen #3 In the fall of 2008, the artist Martin Noël worked on the outdoor areas of four residential complexes in Bonn – Irmintrudisstraße 6-10, Baumschulallee 28, Lutfridstraße 1-11 + 6-20, Magdalenenstraße 28-30 and Lotharstraße 113. He called his project from the Kunstundwohnen series “Show your colors”. The works are documented in the catalog “Martin Noël – Show Your Color”. At the end of the project, an exhibition of the artist's studio works took place from May 15 to June 30, 2009. Martin Noël (born 1956 in Berlin) lived and worked in Bonn-Bad Godesberg. From 1980-1987 he studied free graphics and painting at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and received numerous awards and prizes, including a 2003 work grant from the Kunstfonds e. v.; 1998 grant from the Art and Culture Foundation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, studio grant from the LETTER Foundation in Cologne, for New York; 1991 Young West Art Prize, Recklinghausen; 1987 Max Ernst scholarship, Brühl. Martin Noël died in Bonn on November 18, 2010. www.martinnoel.de Photographer: Peter Oszvald, Bonn
Kunstundwohnen #4 In 2009, the project "Überblendung" by the Cologne painter Claudia Desgranges took place in the MIWO residential complex. In film technology, the term "crossfade" refers to the "soft" transition of two consecutive film parts into one another in comparison to the hard cut. The artist, who is primarily known for her position on free color painting, uses the term in a figurative sense. Observations from the surrounding area are questioned for their (color) painterly qualities and artistically combined and commented on with different media. In this respect, the situations encountered are not faded out “hard”, but faded over “softly”. The project started on September 2, 2009 with an evening projection on the gable wall of the apartment building at Irmintrudisstraße 10 in Bonn-Castell. In an endless loop, the artist superimposed filmic and acoustic sequences from urban contexts with photographs of her color painting. With reference to this action, on October 29, 2009, Claudia Desgranges showed a painterly installation at the same address outside of the residential complex on the garage forecourt. In addition, she creates an extension of the previous situation with an in-situ painting on the end panel of the garage roof, a "crossfade" that helps the traditional impression to attract new attention. On November 24, 2009, another situation was presented in Bonn's old town at Adolfstrasse 63. The continuous vertical glazing of the stairwell structures the façade here. With clear painterly settings on the glass, Claudia Desgranges temporarily lifts this architectural jewel out of everyday oversight. In keeping with the project title and your initial projection, the interior lighting scatters color and light into the darkness in the evening hours. There is a transition from the house into the urban space, color "flows" to the outside. Claudia Desgranges (born November 17, 1953 in Frankfurt am Main) lives and works in Cologne and Munich. She studied painting at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. The works are documented in the catalog “Claudia Desgranges – Überblendung”. www.claudia-desgranges.de Photographer: Peter Oszvald, Bonn | MIWO archive
Kunstundwohnen #5 For the fifth project in the Kunstundwohnen series, the Berlin-based artist Tim Trantenroth created two facade paintings in Bonn under the title he chose: Raumstein. For years, Tim Traantenroth has been pursuing his interest in architecture, particularly in ornamental facade architecture and modern concrete architecture. He often creates illusionistic spaces that perspectively contradict the actual situations in which they are shown, thus playing with perception in a very direct, visual way. In addition to his work on canvas and paper, Tim Traantenroth has already created a large number of murals. For Bonn, the artist chose very different approaches at two different locations in the city. At the address Lotharstraße 111-113, he occupied a low passage opening from the front building to the garden, which is used by the tenants as a bicycle shelter, with a grid that was rich in color and contrast. The inconspicuous (non-) place is over-accentuated and really begins to falter as a result of the glaring architectural tilting images. In Krausfeld 19, a large gable wall has been cautiously covered with painted shadows. Finely drawn and with consideration for the surroundings, there is an almost imperceptible undermining of reality here. Tim Trantenroth (born 1969 in Waldsassen in the Fichtelgebirge) studied at the Münster Art Academy with Ulrich Erben (1991-1993) and at the Düsseldorf Art Academy (1993-1996). He finished his studies as a master student with Jan Dibbets. Today the artist lives and works in Berlin. The public presentation of the project took place on Wednesday, September 29, 2010, from 7 to 8 p.m. in Bonn's Nordstadt, Im Krausfeld 19. Dr. Peter Lodermeyer, art historian and freelance author. Tim Trantenroth was present. A catalog entitled “Tim Trattenroth – Raumstein” has been published, documenting the work in text and images. www.timtrantenroth.de Photographer: Peter Ozvald, Bonn
kunstundwohnen #6 In 2011, kunstundwohnen invited the artist Martin Pfeifle, who lives in Düsseldorf, to realize an artistic work in the MIWO residential complex. Martin Pfeifle then developed the “RADO” project for the Lutfridstraße residential area. At the beginning of July 2011, 64 black and white layered cubes made of Neopolen foam were placed on the lawn of the residential area for the "RADO" project. The cubes are intentionally recognizable as objects of utility and are adapted in shape and size to a seating cube. The viewer was asked to help determine where and how the cubes move on the premises of the residential quarter, whether there are seating groups at the entrances or patterns laid out on the meadows. The work of art has changed again and again during the two-month exhibition period due to the interventions of visitors and viewers. Martin Pfeifle (born 1975 in Stuttgart) lives and works in Düsseldorf. He completed his studies at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf with Prof. Tony Cragg and Prof. Hubert Kiecol. The artist has received numerous awards and prizes, including a grant from the Villa Romana in Florence in 2010. The work is documented in the “Martin Pfeifle – RADO” catalogue. At the request of the residents, the work will remain permanently in the Lutfridstrasse residential area. www.pfeifle.de Photographer: Martin Pfeifle | Beate Eckstein | Residents of Luftfridstraße | MIWO archive
kunstundwohnen #7 For the seventh Kunstundwohnen project, the Swiss artist Karim Noureldin designed the stairwell in the Lutfridstraße 1 residential area in August and September 2012 under the project name "Tupelo". Starting at the entrance to the apartment, a diagonal color scheme runs across the entire room height of the 4 floors and continues horizontally in the stair areas. The resulting complexity of the forms results in a very free, almost playful spatial geometry that never looks the same. The room is fundamentally redefined through painting. The artist Karim Noureldin (b. 1967 in Zurich) studied at the Zurich University of the Arts from 1988-1989 and at the School of Design in Basel from 1990-1993. From 1994-2000 he lived in New York, from 2001 in Rome, Cairo and London. Since 2002 Noureldin lives and works in Lausanne, Switzerland. www.karim noureldin.net Photographer: Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf
Kunstundwohnen #8 In 2013 the ceilings in the stairwell at Lutfridstraße 5 were decorated by the artist Esther Stocker with a black and white mural entitled “GEOMETRIA”, which is typical for her. This forms a graphic “skin”, so to speak, and is a directly accessible aesthetic sign language. For passers-by or those coming home, the work seems like a walk-in picture. Formally, the structure is made up of static geometric signs. The graphic can be perceived differently from the viewpoints of the stairwell and develops a rhythmic character. The aesthetics of the wall design refers to the existing elements of the construction, but should also show what lies beyond the construction: imagination and the free play of forms. When viewed, the boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional perception dissolves. Esther Stocker (born 1975 in Schlanders, South Tyrol) studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1994-1999, among others with Eva Schlegel. In 1996/97 the artist received a scholarship to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, and in 1999/2000 she had a study visit to the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California. This was followed by a longer stay in Chicago, Illinois in 2002/03. Esther Stocker is known for her non-representational paintings, as well as room installations and construction-related art, all painted exclusively in black and white. www.estherstocker.net Photographer: Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf
Kunstundwohnen #9 For the ninth MIWO Kunstundwohnen project, Maik and Dirk Löbbert developed an intervention with colored light. In the work "Staircase" in the hallway of the art quarter Lutfridstraße 11 in Bonn-Endenich, the panes of the windows were replaced by colored glass in the three primary colors yellow, blue and red, the door panels of the front door by green glass. Ascending the staircase, the viewer changes from green to yellow, to blue and finally to dark red light, which is also reflected by the walls. Minimal interventions and architecture-related interventions characterize the projects of the brothers Maik and Dirk Löbbert. In their temporary and permanent works in public and private space, they react to the existing architectural and more or less “designed” situation. Individual elements such as lamps, lettering or other design details are often duplicated, misplaced, subtly rearranged or colored. The artists are concerned with evoking new perspectives and breaking through familiar perceptions. The artist Maik Löbbert, born in Gelsenkirchen in 1958, studied photography at the GHK Kassel from 1984-87 with Prof. Floris M. Neusüss and from 1987-90 he studied painting/sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy with Prof. Fritz Schwegler as a master student. From 2005-2021 Maik Löbbert was rector of the Münster Art Academy. Dirk Löbbert was born in Wattenscheid in 1960. From 1983-88 the artist studied sculpture as a master student at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. From 1988-92 Dirk Löbbert studied sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy as a master student of Prof. Erich Reusch and Prof. Irmin Kamp. Since 2001, Maik and Dirk Löbbert have held a professorship for sculpture and art in public space at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts. The artists live and work in Cologne and Münster. www.mdloebbert.de Photographers: Maik and Dirk Löbbert
Kunstundwohnen #10 Jan van der Ploeg is a prominent representative of the so-called "geometric abstraction". He is thus part of a tradition that ties in with the Dutch "De Stijl" movement and the associated work of Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. In his large-format wall works, which refer directly to the architecture, van der Ploeg varies colour, abstract forms and lines with great sensitivity and great variety. This richness of color and form can also be found in his autonomous painting. The Dutchman often declines a theme - such as "grips" and "waves" - in numerous variations. In addition to works for important museums, Jan van der Ploeg was able to realize grandiose art-in-architecture projects for the Dutch embassies in London and Paris. For the MIWO “kunstundwohnen” project, in 2015 the artist created the expansive wall work “Wall Painting No. 412, Untitled” and thus added another attraction to MIWO’s “Lutfridstraße Art District”. Jan van der Ploeg, born in 1959 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, lives and works in Amsterdam. www.janvanderploeg.com Photographer: Christoph Jaschke | Photo archive MIWO
kunstundwohnen #11 For his artistic search for traces in the “kunstundwohnen” series, Thomas Vinson (b. 1970 in Paris) takes on the beginning of the Lutfridstrasse estate on Magdalenenstrasse: A crossbar opposite the neo-Gothic church of St. Maria Magdalena, which was destroyed in the war, separates the inner one , green area of the settlement from the street and adapts to the curved course of the street. The church, located on a hill, dominates the district, also with its omnipresent chiming. In the stairwell area of Magdalenenstrasse No. 28, Vinson embedded several photos on aluminum Dibond, which he took outside the church, flat into the walls. The overmolded painting of the banister has been removed and is now reminiscent of the original 1950s condition. Through his intervention, changes are made legible and existing structures are adapted as a reminiscence of the design quality of post-war architecture. Based on Robert Smithson's Sites and Non-Sites, Vinson's interventions relate exterior and interior areas, specific and generalized locations. Architecture, implanted works of art and the urban environment form a meaningful unit that was immortalized by an autobiographically inspired, historical wedding photo of his grandmother Magdalena on the underside of the staircase on the ground floor - to which the title "Magdalene K.", as well as to the church, refers . Text: Beate Eckstein Thomas Vinson, born in Paris, France in 1970, passed his legal state exam in 1994 at the Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris and then studied sculpture from 1997-1999 with Prof. George Smith at Rice University in Houston, USA. In 2002 he was awarded the 2nd prize Sculptures in the Park, Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany. In 2013 the artist received a grant at the Espace de l'Art Concret (Foundation Albers – Honegger), Mouans-Sartoux, France. From 2013-2018 Vinson was a guest lecturer for sculpture at Justus-Liebig University, Gießen. Since 2014 he has been a guest lecturer in the sculpture architecture department at the THM, Gießen University of Applied Sciences. Thomas Vinson lives and works in Paris and Giessen. www.thomas-vinson.com Photographer: Mareike Tocha, Cologne
Kunstundwohnen #10 After the sculptural outdoor work Rado (2011), Martin Pfeifle realized Onda, a second outdoor sculpture in the Lutfridstrasse settlement in 2019. For Onda (Italian: the wave), Pfeifle transforms a classic park bench made of white wooden slats into an oversized, wavy and expansive sculpture that invites you to sit, climb or simply look at it. In the meantime, Onda has become an integral part of the life of the residents: a climbing frame for children, a bench for mothers or an evening meeting place for teenagers in summer. Martin Pfeifle works as an archaeologist of the "now": He examines places for their social and cultural conditions, their history and spatial definitions, in order to then develop his installations, sculptures or (walk-in) outdoor works, which always respond very specifically to the respective spatial situation. As with Onda, everyday objects are often transformed or spatial sculptures are conceived from everyday building materials and installed on site. Pfeifle manages to do this with astonishing ease and enthusiasm, perhaps this is the secret why his art in construction projects such as Rado or Onda are so well received. He also manages to do this with a wink with Onda, the fun, varied dismantling and recomposition of the classic park bench par excellence. Text: Beate Eckstein Martin Pfeifle (born 1975 in Stuttgart) lives and works in Düsseldorf. He completed his studies at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf with Prof. Tony Cragg and Prof. Hubert Kiecol. The artist has received numerous awards and prizes, including a grant from the Villa Romana in Florence in 2010. www.pfeifle.de Photographer: Mareike Tocha, Cologne
Kunstundwohnen #13 An artistic intervention by Schirin Kretschmann Based on the movement of the residents' daily ascent and descent, Schirin Kretschmann developed an in situ wall painting for the staircase at Lutfridstraße No. 18, which is based on the color palette of the 1950s. For "FIFTIES" the artist varies a projected rectangular shape analogous to the different perspectives, lines of sight and different points of view of the viewers as important actors. Colored trapezoidal shapes in different sizes and shapes now accompany the residents as they pass through the stairwell. With the title "FIFTIES" Kretschmann refers to the time when the settlement was created in the 1950s. Schirin Kretschmann (*1980 in Karlsruhe, lives in Berlin) works in the field of tension between installation painting and its border areas to process-related work forms. Since her studies, including at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, she has developed works for public spaces as well as international galleries and institutions. In addition, she conducts research in interdisciplinary contexts, works as a curator and is currently a professor for painting and graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Text: Beate Eckstein www.schirinkretschmann.de Photographer: Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn
kunstundwohnen #14 Project description for the wall design in the stairwell at Lutfridstraße 20 by the artist Birte Bosse: “My basic idea for the design of the MIWO stairwells comes from the intention to contribute to social exchange and to address the different moods of the residents in a humorous way. Based on my murals in the cafeteria in the ELKI of the University Hospital Bonn, the lines and color accents should move between concrete representation and abstraction in order to have an associative effect on the one hand and not to be overwhelming on the other." Text: Birte Bosse After a break in the previous year, in Two projects implemented in 2021 as part of "kunstundwohnen". We were able to win over the artist Birte Bosse for one, who chose the stairwell at Lutfridstraße 20 to install her cheerful and colorful mural "Ludfrid invited to peace" as an addendum for the year 2020. The artistic work was completed in summer 2021. The artist Birte Bosse, born in 1984, grew up in Worpswede and Kuhstedtermoor. In 2006 she graduated from the technical college for product design and art in Bremen, and in 2012 she received her diploma from the Braunschweig University of the Arts. There she studied with Friedemann von Stockhausen, Thomas Rentmeister and Bogomir Ecker and in 2013 made the master student with Bogomir Ecker. In 2019, a scholarship brought Birte Bosse to RMIT University Melbourne in Australia. The artist lives and works in Berlin. birtebosse.de Photographer: Mareike Tocha, Cologne
Kunstundwohnen #15 As part of the “kunstundwohnen” series, MIWO commissioned the artist Roman Lang to design the stairwell at Lutfridstrasse No. 7. The artist has opted for an impressive, colourful, illusionistic wall painting that clearly borrows from Op Art and, like Op Art, “pretends” spatial structures through painting alone. For his interior design in Bonn, Roman Lang is planning colored rectangular bodies that seem to protrude diagonally from the wall to the front or upwards. This spatial effect will be seen most clearly when going up or down the stairwell, thus absorbing the movements of the residents. The color palette moves between muted blue and orange tones, light turquoise and green as well as violet and red fields. The painting cuts across the wall and ceiling, as if it were continuing beyond the boundaries of the architecture of the stairwell. The artist wants to carry out this design himself in early 2021 and is being supported by a painting company. This spatiality achieved through painting as an element of Op Art was en vogue in the 1960s. As an important trend in modern painting, it in turn refers to the non-representational, i.e. abstract painting of the early 20th century. First and foremost, Kasimir Malevich should be mentioned here with his famous black square as one of the first non-representational paintings and his theory of Suprematism. In his other artistic works - wall installations, wall drawings and wall reliefs - Lang's desire for space-forming concepts or their illusion and the deconstruction of various collage-like constructs prevails. Lang achieves this with a skilful interplay of a wide variety of elements such as wood and multiplex panels, structures and surfaces. In view of this, one can be very curious to see what (spatial) effect the latest work in Lutfridstraße will have. Roman Lang (born 1976 in Neumarkt/Upper Palatinate) studied with Ben Willikens at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and was a scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung. Lang has participated in numerous international solo and group exhibitions; he lives and works in Düsseldorf and Bonn. Text: Beate Eckstein www.roman-lang.com Photographer: Mareike Tocha, Cologne
kunstundwohnen #16 Ups & Downs (Involvements and Reflections in daily life), 2022 The German-Italian artist Lorenzo Pompa skilfully adapted his biomorphic, black and yellow murals in the newly designed stairwell at Lutfridstrasse No. 14 to the residents’ ascent and descent and visitors* and thus transformed the room into a total work of art. The many different, impastoly applied, yellow “cell bodies” that appear “knitted”, surrounded by black lattice structures, accompany the passers-by like biological mitotic divisions of single, double or triple cell groups, which thus begin to move and relate to one another . Every now and then he catches a glimpse into one of the many rectangular mirrors placed in front of the painting; the reflection of the opposite wall in turn expands the physical space accordingly. The master student of Georg Herold succeeds in a light-hearted, humorous interpretation of the sophisticated spatial structure of a stairwell. Pompa works with multimedia as a sculptor, draftsman or painter and likes to arrange the individual groups of works - be they cucumbers, cacti or anthropomorphic figures - into a pleasurable space-filling environment. Lorenzo Pompa, born in Krefeld in 1962, studied interior design in Rome from 1984-86 and architecture at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences from 1994-96. From 1996-2003 he studied fine arts at the Düsseldorf Art Academy with Georg Herold (master student). Pompa lives and works in Düsseldorf. Text: Beate Eckstein www.lorenzopompa.com Photographer: Mareike Tocha, Cologne