Nein! Doch. Oh!

Elisa Manig & Regine Schulz

Seemingly silent, highly disturbing installations and sculptures await visitors to the exhibition at E-Werk. Coloured wall works, erratic blocks – similar to boulders – and processes that transform natural materials into something both explosive and rigid are the protagonists of the current exhibition.

With the invitation to Elisa Manig, she has asked Regine Schulz, sculptor, to join her in the joint presentation. The result is an explosive parcours that impressively reveals the regenerative power of contemporary art.
Elisa Manig‘s colourful works unfold their effect on the walls of the room. They occupy corners and protrusions and thus intervene in the space. Her materials are wood, steel, aludibond, foam and paint. In the work Shift off, two parallel, finely slotted panels are attached to the wall, held in place by screws and held in place by a rudimentary rake. The lightness of the construction is captivating in its formal stringency and draws the viewer in. Or the circular shape of Body, which protrudes from the wall and is held by two brackets, remains enigmatic. Looking at the rigid, coloured object evokes associations with everyday objects that unsettle the familiar understanding of space, but allow the idea of slipping over.
When Regine Schulz talks about her work, this refers to her way of working in dialogue with the material. „The immediacy of the material touches me – I physically confront the material and can influence it directly. … (for example) cement, which originally comes from nature and has been chemically altered by man to become a building material, I want to return it to its natural appearance and give the… brittle building material back its sensuality.“
Just as we understand the world through action, it is possible to reveal the epitome of human existence in the world through artistically conscious action, according to Schulz. In this way, it is possible to make a facet of the complex world vivid and recognisable, even tangible, in artistic action and in the contemplation of the viewer.