“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
“Unfit”, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Barcelona, 2024.
Red, 2023
Polyethylene foam and polyethylene coating.
95 x 200 x 45 cm
Green, 2023
Polyethylene foam and polyethylene coating.
70 x 70 x 45 cm
Pink, 2023
Polyethylene foam and polyethylene coating.
45 x 165 x 35 cm
Blue, 2023
Polyethylene foam and polyethylene coating.
110 x 210 x 80 cm
Yellow, 2023
Polyethylene foam and polyethylene coating.
45 x 207 x 40 cm
Red, leaning, 2024
Powder-coated steel tube, light bulb, cable.
195 x 35 x 60 cm
Yellow, hanging, 2024
Powder-coated steel tube, light bulb, cable.
170 x 40 x 12 cm
Blue, 2023
Powder-coated steel tube, light bulb, cable.
120 x 57 x 15 cm
The work of artist Erika Hock (Kyrgyzstan, 1981, based in Germany) is at an intersection between art, architecture, and design. In this mix of influences we find the richness of her work. Hock subverts what we expect from spaces, breaking what is predictable and at the same time allowing us to play with objects. Entering a Hock exhibition is a complete experience, where every corner of the room plays its part.
As the viewer walks through the space, they can decide whether or not to interact with the objects, and even doubt whether this is something allowed. In this sense, “Unfit” proposes a complicated challenge, since it is practically impossible not to touch or sit on some of the artworks that get in our way. “Yellow”, with its funny cushions, is particularly hard to resist. The title of the exhibition refers to the fact that, although these pieces call for exploration, they never fully adapt to the visitor’s body and cause a curious discomfort.
The atmosphere of “Unfit” also gives off a certain nostalgic air, with echoes of the Memphis Group. This Italian architecture and design group founded by Ettore Sottsass dared to combine the vibrant colors of pop art with art deco elements such as geometric figures or curved lines, and retro influences. It strongly marked the 80s by focusing not only on the functionality of the design but also on aesthetics. Sottsass explained it this way: “When I was young, all we ever heard about was functionalism, functionalism, functionalism. It’s not enough. Design should also be sensual and exciting.”
It is this playful spirit that we find here and that invites us to let go of our preconceived ideas and let ourselves be carried away by the journey. In addition to the couches/artworks, we also find several twisted and colorful lamps that illuminate our walk with humor and elegance. Hock, with her impeccable technique and ability to inhabit space in unexpected ways, positions herself as an original and unique voice within German contemporary art.
Florence Rodenstein
EN / ES
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
ERIKA HOCK
Three hands pointing, 2021
Printed string curtains, steel, powder coated
220 x 150 cm
ERIKA HOCK
My finger my touch, 2021
Printed string curtains, steel, powder coated
90 x 60 cm
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
Bobby, 2021
Printed string curtains, steel, powder coated
111 x 50 x 71 cm
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
Your finger in my nose, 2021
Printed string curtains, steel, powder coated
90 x 60 x 8 cm
BODY TROUBLE, solo exhibition by Erika Hock. Installation view at L21 Gallery, 2021.
Bobby, 2021
Printed string curtains, steel, powder coated
111 x 50 x 71 cm
BODY TROUBLE
In 1927, the German Silk Manufacturers’ Association commissions the Modernist architect Lilly Reich and her colleague Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to design a stand which would represent the German textile industry at the fair Die Mode der Dame (Women’s Fashion), which was to take place that year in Berlin. The project is entitled Café Samt & Seide (Velvet and Silk Café) and, far from being satisfied with the standard grid of the archetypal fairground space, the German architect opts to erect sinuous walls, built from colorful draped fabrics of velvet and silk. Reich’s inspiration: to build an architectural space out of a piece of clothing. Her aim: to prove how architecture wraps a body in the same way a dress does. The black and white photographs of the Café Samt & Seide show the large hall of the Funkturm Halle divided by large curtains which, inserted in straight and rounded metal structures, float in the space at different heights. The only piece of furniture we manage to spot is the Brno chair, a classic from the 1930s, designed by both of them. In 2018 Erika Hock took Lilly Reich and Mies van de Rohe’s Café Samt & Seide as a starting point for her “Salon Tactile”. In this new body of work the artist threads two strands; one essentially spatial, and the other one tactile, a crossover she continues to develop in “Body Trouble”.
At this show, as in the Café, the employed elements – velvets and silks – become that which defines the space, generating a crossing of functions or overlapping of roles in the materials; no longer is it only the destination, but also the path. Following this idea of using the elements to be viewed as dividing figures or, in its more positive expression, space-builders, Hock arranges three large curtains which that snake around the centre of the room. The silks and velvets are replaced by rows of strings which, following a very subtle technique, have been individually coloured to achieve the design conceived by the artist. For Erika Hock, just as in the Bauhaus era, colour also builds. Inspired precisely by precedents belonging to this school, such as Bruno Taut or Le Corbusier, Erika chooses gradations of blues, whites, greens, pinks and maroons to generate large masses of colour that organise and arrange the space. It was Le Corbusier, in his Architectural Polychromy, who cited three basic points regarding the experience of colour: 1. Colours modify space; 2. colours classify objects; 3. colours provoke a physiological reaction in us when we perceive them with our sensibility. In Erika Hock’s curtains – or colour cascades – each of these principles is experienced.
To the ideas given by Reich, van der Rohe and Le Corbusier on the experimentation and arrangement of space, Hock adds one more component, one more possibility. Her curtains, made up of hundreds of multicoloured threads, allow for mobility not only around, but also “through”. The public is thus faced with a series of decisions (and possibilities) that are unusual when visiting an exhibition space: to contemplate the work, to traverse along it, or to pass through?
It is here, in the crossing, that we encounter the tactile qualities of the artist’s work. By activating this “work-through” path, Erika enables us the option of getting to know the piece through our body, creating a tension between this one and the artwork. In this new dimension, we acquire a physical awareness of the work’s properties, such as its weight or texture, its colour or movement, moving from a visual to a physical experience, and making visible concealed elements.
Returning to the idea of the crossover, we come to the essence of Erika Hock’s work: a complex intersection of perceptions; a sensory meeting point between architecture and object; design and artwork; movement and contemplation.
Carla Guardiola Bravo
EN / ES
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
Black Nose, 2015
Powder coated steel tube.
100x110x40 cm
Black Nose, 2015
Powder coated steel tube.
100x110x40 cm
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
Stool (stretching leg), 2014
Powder-coated steel tube and wood.
40x140x90 cm
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
Black & White Lamp, 2014
Powder-coated steel tube, light bulb, cable.
204x60x32 cm
Chair II, 2020
Powder coated steel tube.
90x45x45 cm
White Nose, 2015
Powder coated steel tube.
100x110x40 cm
White Nose, 2015
Powder coated steel tube.
100x110x40 cm
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
Silent Servant, 2015
Powder-coated steel tube.
70x57x180 cm
Silent Servant, 2015
Powder-coated steel tube.
70x57x180 cm
Silent Servant, 2015
Powder-coated steel tube.
70x57x180 cm
“OO” solo exhibition by Erika Hock, 2020. Installation view at L21.
Legs, 2015
Powder-coated steel tube, wood, stain.
90x36x98 cm
‘‘OO’’, 2018
Powder-coated steel tube, cable, light bulbs.
ø 60cm each
‘‘OO’’, 2018
Close-up
From their pupils of light, two circles stare at the viewer, giving title to the first exhibition by Erika Hock at L21 Gallery. The series of sculptures she displays, some of them newly made, stand out for the subtlety of the shapes in space, light as a sculptural material and the harmony of color.
A chair in which it is not possible to sit suggests impossible, or at least really uncomfortable, body positions. The ideal and anonymous form, the instructions from Ikea, the eternal mould of mass production… in short, the Platonic idea of a chair is twisted in these works by Hock, which take as their reference the photo essay “Seeking comfort in an uncomfortable chair” (1944) by the Italian designer Bruno Munari. “One comes home tired after having worked all day and finds an uncomfortable chair…” He thus raised the also uncomfortable question of the balance between aesthetics and functionality in furniture design, a question to which art can freely answer.
From this twisting of the idea of a chair, table or lamp, Hock speaks to us in a language that is no longer tied to functionality, about the relationship with space and the constant interaction of the body with everyday objects. Like Munari, we could try to accommodate ourselves mentally in many different ways, to explore the field of possibilities opened up in these works by the artist before the watchful eyes whose curiosity still shines.
Hock’s practice is characterised by the fluid crossover in between sculptural and architectural elements, as well as a recent extended interest in tapestries and furniture that investigate meeting points between history, society and culture.
Erika Hock (Dschangi, Kyrgyzstan,1981) has been part of group exhibitions such as A-Scene III, at Wiels, Brussels, Skulptur at Produzentengalerie, Hamburg, as well as individual exhibitions such as Salon Tactile at COSAR HMT, Düsseldorf, The Phantom Table at Sofie Van de Velde, Antwerp, The People’s Cinema at Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, What Bananas Say in the Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria, or The Seamstress, Her Mistress, the Mason and the Thief in Tenderpixel Gallery, London.
EN / ES
Erika Hock (Dshangi-Dsher, Kyrgyzstan,1981) is an artist trained in Fine Art at Kunstakademie Münster and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, both in Germany. Her practice is characterised by the fluid crossover between sculptural and architectural elements, as well as an extended interest in tapestries and furniture developing an artistic research across meeting points between history, society and culture.
Recent solo exhibitions include “Body Trouble” at L21 Gallery (Palma 2021); “We never grow tired of each other” Cosar HTM, Düsseldorf (DE, 2021); “Female Fame”, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl, Marl (DE, 2020); “00”, L21 Gallery, Palma de Mallorca (ES, 2020) and Hotel Atlantik, Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen (DE). Her work has been show at group exhibition taking place at Es Baluard, Palma (ES, 2023); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE, 2022); Kunstmuseum Ravensburg (DE, 2022); Bundekunsthalle, Bonn (DE, 2022); Kunstverein Mönchengladbach (DE, 2021); Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (DE, 2020); Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt (DE, 2020); Produzentengalerie, Hamburg (DE, 2019); Museum Marta, Herford (DE, 2018); LevyDelval Galerie, Brussels (BE, 2017) and Kornelimünster Aachen (DE, 2017), amongst many others.
1981 born in Dshangi – Dsher, Kyrgyzstan (former Soviet Union)
EDUCATION
2001 – 2003
Studies of History at the Westfälische-Wilhelms-University, Münster (DE)
Fine Art at Kunstakademie Münster (DE)
2004 – 2009
Fine Art at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (DE)
2012 – 2013
Postgraduate Program at HISK – Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Ghent (BE)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
Body Trouble. L21 Gallery, Palma (ES)
We never grow tired of each other. Cosar HTM, Düsseldorf (DE)
2020
Female Fame, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl, Marl (DE)
00, L21 Gallery, Palma (ES)
2018
Hotel Atlantik, Kunsthalle Lingen, Lingen (DE)
Salon Tactile, Galerie Cosar HMT, Düsseldorf (DE)
2017
Performing Domesticity, Rita Urso Gallery, Milan (IT)
Second Home, Philara Collection, Düsseldorf (DE)
The Phantom Table, Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
2016
Body Body, Kunsthaus Essen, Essen (BE)
2015
What Bananas Say, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (AT)
Elbows & Knees, Cosar HMT, Düsseldorf (DE)
2014
The Seamstress, Her Misstress, the Mason and the Thief, Tenderpixel, London (UK)
2013
NRW Förderpreis (with Jan Paul Evers), Kornelimünster, Aachen (DE)
Architecture, Anyone? (with Clare Noonan) Het Paviljoen, Ghent (BE)
2012
Rehearsal, Cosar HMT, Düsseldorf (DE)
CINEORAMA – Pavilion of Moving Images, Jacobigarten, Düsseldorf (DE)
2011
Hosted by/ Dissolved TerritorieS (with Kasper Akhoj) MA, Düsseldorf (DE)
Shifters, Wilhelm Lehmbruck – Museum, Duisburg (DE)
2010
Substitute & Replacement, Kuttner Siebert Gallery, Berlin (DE)
Clear of Clouds (with Frauke Dannert), Bell Street Project Space, Vienna (AT)
2009
Playstation (with Sarah -Jane Hoffmann), Fons Welters Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
002 – FAK, (with Andreas Kurz) Förderverein für aktuelle Kunst e. V., Münster (DE)
2008
CoolTools, Baustelle Schaustelle, Raum für Junge Kunst, Essen (DE)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Entre Cajas. L21 Palma, Palma (ES)
Sin Rumbo. Confrontar la Imago Mundi. Es Baluard, Palma (ES)
2022
Opta Data. Essen, Germany (DE)
Atruvia. Karlsruhe, Germany (DE)
FWO. Brussels, Belgium (BEL)
Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg, Germany (DE)
Musterung – Pop und Politik in der zeitgenössischen Textilkunst, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg (DE)
Happiness is a State of Mind, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE)
Identität nicht nachgewiesen. Neuerwerbungen der Sammlung des Bundes, Bundekunsthalle, Bonn (DE)
Unendliche Geschichten: Sammlung Oehmen at the Museum Ratingen (DE)
2021
Force Times Distance – On Labour and its Sonic Ecologies, Sonsbeek 20-24 (in Collaboration with Wendelien Van Oldenborgh)
Mobilia, Kunstverein Mönchengladbach
2020
Sonsbeek, Arnhem (NL)
Pattern! Pop and Politics in Contemporary Textile Arts, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (DE)
Mind the Gap! Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt (DE)
2019
Skulptur, Produzentengalerie, Hamburg (DE)
2018
IDEAL STANDARD. Speculations on Bauhaus today, Zeppelinmuseum Friedrichshafen (DE)
Eruption from the Surface – The Origami Principle in Art, Museum Marta, Herford (DE)
(Als) tekens in de ruimte, Emergent, Veurne (BE)
2017
La Norme Idéale, LevyDelval Galerie, Brussels (BE)
Sammlung mit losen Enden, Kornelimünster Aachen (DE)
Neither Innocent Nor Guilty, Daily Lazy Project Space, Athens (GR)
2016
Reflector, Plus One Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
Inhabited by Objects, CAB, Brussels (BE)
The People’s Cinema, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (AT)
More Canvas, Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
Every Letter Is a Love Letter, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn (EE)
2015
From I to K, Schloss Ringenberg (DE)
Lekker Licht, Centraal Museum, Utrecht (BE)
Un-Scene III, Wiels, Brussels (BE)
As It Seems, Cosar HMT, Düsseldorf (DE)
The Catwalk, Komplot, Brussels (BE)
2014
Der entfesselte Blick, Marta, Herford (DE)
Concept Store, NEST, The Hague (NL)
The fair shake of the whip, Herrmann Germann Contemporary, Zurich (CH)
Labyr, Euroboden Hochbunker, Munich (DE)
2013
Combinations, Loop Art Space, Seoul (KR)
TRANSFER, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE)
Diplomats and Martyrs, German House, London (UK)
blowing the whistle, Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf (DE)
Defining Space, Die Bastei, Cologne (DE)
Geometrie Variable, Les Crayeres, Reims (FR)
2012
Dorothea von Stetten Kunstpreis 2012, Kunstmuseum Bonn (DE)
Nam June Paik Award 2012/ Förderpreis 2010, Kunstmuseum Bochum (DE)
The Reality of the Unbuilt, Haus für Musiker/Raketenstation, Stiftung Insel Hombroich, Neuss (DE)
he/she/it/did/said/would, Tenderpixel Gallery, London (UK)
Orchesterwechesel, Rheingold Collection at Schloss Dyck (DE)
2011
Sammlung im Prozess: Neupräsentation und Leihgaben, Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten, Marl (DE)
the shape of forms to come, Kuttner Siebert Gallery, Berlin (DE)
Sunbeam in the Glasshouse, 701 e.V., Düsseldorf (DE)
2010
5 X 3, Kunstraum, Düsseldorf, DE
Unser System, Kuttner Siebert Gallery Berlin (DE)
2009
along the rhine, KIT – Kunst im Tunnel, Düsseldorf (DE)
19. Bundeswettbewerb: KunststudenInnen stellen aus, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (DE)
2008
unsculptured, Galeria Atelier 35, Bucharest (RO)
62. Bergische Kunstausstellung, Museum Baden, Solingen and Städtische Galerie Remscheid (DE)
ART FAIRS
2023
ARCOMadrid. L21 Gallery, Madrid (ES)
2022
SWAB 22.L21 Gallery, Barcelona (ES)
ARCOMadrid. L21 Gallery, Madrid (ES)
2021
ARCOMadrid. L21 Gallery, Madrid (ES)
2020
ARCOMadrid. L21 Gallery, Madrid (ES)
COMISSIONS
2022
Opta Data. Essen, Germany (DE)
Atruvia. Karlsruhe, Germany (DE)
FWO. Brussels, Belgium (BEL)
2021
Detours, façade of the Stadtarchivs Recklinghausen (DE)
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2020
Stiftung Kunstfonds Neustart Stipendium (DE)
Kunststiftung NRW Prokjektförderung (DE)
Begrenzt – Entgrenzt. Zeit für eine Zeitenwende? (DE)
Projektstipendium des Ministeriums für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (DE)
2019
Artist Residency at CCA Andratx (ES)
2018
Working grant Stiftung Kunstfonds
2015 – 2018
Studio grant at Kölnischer Kunstverein
2015
Schloss Ringenberg Stipendium resindency
2013
Catalogue grant Kunststiftung NRW
Sabam Art Award (Belgium)
2012
North Rhine Westphalia art award
Transfer grant /residency Korea/NRW, Seoul
2011
Project grant Kunststiftung NRW
2010
Nam Jun Paik award
Support grant Kunststiftung NRW
2009
Wilhelm- Lehmbruck award
Audi Art Award