15 March - 25 April 2026
Silvia Bauer Algorithmes
Jens Hanke Meet Me at the Gates
Our Spring exhibition shows how Silvia Bauer has defined entirely analogue algorithms which she uses to build sculptures, while Jens Hanke’s ‘landscape’ paintings on canvas are the expression of his subjective perceptions and reflections.
Jens Hanke, A Transfer Took Place (2015), oil on canvas, 75 x 110 cm
Jens Hanke lets his mind wander freely to explore emotions or other impulses in the brain that unfold into a conscious or semi-conscious process, the result of which is a polyphony of thoughts and new connections that guide his pictural expression. The inner landscapes, sometimes repetitive in form but very different in their colour schemes, let us slide downhill or climb mountains to finally reach a contemplative lakeside setting which may have emerged after the eruption of a volcano. This reminds us of a kind of automatic drawing process, as used by surrealists in the 20th century, which was often associated with the revelation of the psyche of the artists.
Silvia Bauer, Algorithme 6, ABS plastic, 45 x 45 x 65 cm
Silvia Bauer’s sculptures form a stark contrast not only visually but also by the process of their making: she re-uses industrial waste materials, in this case bright coloured plastic from the industrial production of the TRODAT company. Silvia Bauer created mountains of unstructured material, only using colour as point of orientation. Her grey-coloured torn algorithm nr. 9 differs from the others in that it uses an expansive tentacle design reminiscent of organic forms. Bauer’s approach shows parallels to arte povera while at the same time opening up the discussion about the way we use and discard materials such as plastic, today considered as highly problematic leftovers of our consumerist lifestyle.
Jens Hanke, (left to right) We Will Better Stay Here (2026), I Wanted to Stay With You (2025), Restless Dreams (2026), oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm
Jens Hanke was born in Eilenburg (Germany) in 1966. He studied at the Leipzig Academy of Fine Arts (HGB). In 1994, he received a DAAD scholarship to study in Chicago, USA, where he stayed for six years. Since 2000, he has been living and working in Berlin.
Hanke’s work has many associative meanings. He is concerned with the phenomenon of perception as a psychological process. He uses elements of modernism and surrealism and weaves them into a visual network of different pictorial worlds. His layered work includes drawings, books, collages, paintings and large wall installations. His work has been shown in many solo exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland and the USA and can be found in numerous private and public collections.
Silvia Bauer, Algorithme 9, ABS plastic, 50 x 28 x 28 cm
Born in Vienna (Austria), Silvia Bauer lives and works in Brussels. She studied painting in Munich (Germany), ceramics in Peoria (Illinois, USA), and sculpture at the Académie de Watermael-Boitsfort (Brussels). Her artistic disciplines include sculpture, installations, painting, drawing, photography.
She had numerous exhibitions in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece and China, did artistic residencies in China, received several international sculpture awards, and has works in both private and public collections (e.g. the Austrian Embassies in Brussels and Beijing).