JEPPE HEIN
NOTHING IS AS IT APPEARS

KÖNIG BERLIN
21 FEBRUARY – 3 MAY 2020

Nothing is as it appears exhibits sculptural objects that bring viewers closer to themselves, to their environment, and to each other. The exhibition relates to the same-titled book which invites people to discover the subtle connection between yoga and Hein‘s art. Referring to different yoga poses, or asanas (body positions), sometimes a work’s relationship to a pose is presented playfully, as tongue-in-cheek. Other times, the connection is more fundamental to an assembled, coherent whole.

In one piece titled On a Journey to Myself, the titular words glow in white neon letters behind a two-way mirror. Hein’s use of reflective surfaces allows for a more thoughtful appreciation of our co-existence with others. Juxtaposing the Padmasana or Lotus pose — an asana that traditionally draws attention to one’s body — the pronoun “myself” calls out to viewers, situating them in a mirrored reflection and thereby in the embodied present moment.

In Fold II two square mirrors with four subtle folds are mounted onto a wall. The creased reflections produce a fragmented view of the surrounding area, enabling viewers to see different parts of the room simultaneously. Juxtaposing the asana extended Triangle (Utthita Trikonasana) with Fold II, an idea of unexpected and extended perspectives will awaken. In another work, titled Breath, an array of glass spheres encapsulate the practice of Pranayama (composed of the Sanskrit words prana = life energy, and ayama = control and expansion). The intensity of the artist’s breath has determined the size of each glass sphere, while the overall number of spheres corresponds to the number of breaths needed to create a single one.

As both book and exhibition, Nothing is as it appears inspires a more open view of the world. This new point of view becomes more than a symbol of introspection: it connects things together that might seemingly have nothing to do with each other. In this way, the exhibition recreates an insight specific to a meditative frame of mind. Encouraging viewers to re-examine and question the world, one might leave the Chapel of St. Agnes with a more poignant sense of the interconnectedness always brimming just below the surface of awareness.

FEATURED ARTIST

JEPPE HEIN

Jeppe Hein (b. 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish artist based in Berlin. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Städel Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Jeppe Hein is widely known for his production of experiential and interactive artworks that can be positioned at the junction where art, architecture, and technical inventions intersect. Unique in their formal simplicity and notable for their frequent use of humor, his works engage in a lively dialogue with the traditions of Minimalist sculpture and Conceptual art of the 1970s. Jeppe Hein’s works often feature...
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