After Forever

For his first museum exhibition in China, Anselm Reyle installed a cross-section of selected works since 2004 in the distinctive architecture of the Aranya Art Center: silver foil paintings, sculptures made from painted found objects, neon works, roughly shaped and colorful ceramics, and a larger series of new abstract paintings with shimmering surfaces. Most spectacular is the site-specific installation of a large diamond-shaped wind chime sculpture that hangs from the dome of the museum's auditorium and rotates on its axis. Complemented by an earlier, square version of the kinetic work in another hall, this catalog, like the exhibition, begins and ends in an atmospheric interplay of shapes and shadows. The book documents the entire show in numerous installation photographs and work details, providing a testament to Reyle's vision, as the artist himself describes it, "The very purpose of art is to make another world possible. A world where different rules and associations apply. This world is an island and for some of us also a life raft. On this island we can gain new experiences and transfer many of them to the real world. They can add something to our lives and even change them completely.