Opening Thursday March 16, from 6 to 9 pm
On the occasion of the Nuit des Bains
Galerie Xippas is pleased to present, for the first time in Geneva, the works of the German artist Olaf Holzapfel. Entitled Das Gewachsene – Ce qui a grandi, the exhibition brings together his most recent works, some of which were created especially for the event. The artist, known for his work in the fields of sculpture, installation and textile art, is presenting works from three different series grouped together in our two spaces in Rue des Sablons and Vieux-Billard.
Olaf Holzapfel is particularly interested in how history, culture and architecture intersect and interact, and how these interactions can be examined and reinterpreted through art. His work is often characterised by repetitive patterns and organic forms, which are inspired by both nature and human constructions.
“Straw, reed, hay, willow, wood or cactus fibre. Natural materials are at the beginning, where nothing has form yet. We see them so often that we no longer pay attention to them, as if they had always been there and that our sight integrated them by default. Yet they are in our homes and cities and therefore also evolve in time and space. These materials circulate with us and are omnipresent in our environment and our existence. They are as close to us as a tailor-made suit. It is these vegetable raw materials that form the basis of the works presented here.”
– Olaf Holzapfel
Olaf Holzapfel was born in Dresden in 1967. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
After studying Fine Art at the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst in Dresden and at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, he received an MFA in 2003. He has been in residence at Columbia University in New York and has taught as a visiting professor at the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe and the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst in Hamburg. Olaf Holzapfel has participated in numerous solo exhibitions, including the Daniel Marzona Gallery in Berlin, the Sabine Knust Gallery in Munich, the Bundner Kunstmuseum in Chur, Switzerland and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Salta, Argentina. His work has also been shown in several group exhibitions, including Unlimited – Art Basel and the Max Wigram Gallery in London. The artist is also represented by the galleries Baronian in Brussels, Sabine Knust in Munich and the Gebr.
Lehmann Gallery in Dresden.
Olaf Holzapfel was featured in 2017 during Documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany. His participation was widely praised by the public, who remember him in particular for the construction of the Trassen wooden pavilion in the city park of Kassel in Germany.
His work can be found in institutional and private collections such as the Robelin collection and the collection of the Federal Republic of Germany.
