Inge Mahn

Inge Mahn - Artist Room / K21

April 01, 2017 – March 31, 2018

The objects created by Inge Mahn (born in Cieszyn in 1943), many of them largeformat, are reduced to simple geometric forms, and betray a certain proximity to Minimalism. The surfaces of these cuboids, arches, spheres, and columns are by no means perfect, but are instead rough, irregular. They are consistently white – this artist’s preferred material being plaster. The forms of her objects allude to elements of the surrounding architecture, which are adapted and transformed into a new artistic language. Differently than in the cited prototypes,  however, the objects of Inge Mahn are devoid of utility, and their fragile surfaces quickly display traces of vulnerability, a condition of their materiality.
Inge Mahn studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where she was a master student with Joseph Beuys. As a professor of sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee, she has influenced the development of numerous contemporary artists. Inge Mahn lives and works in Berlin and Groß Fredenwalde (Uckermark).

In co-operation with Susanne Meyer-Büser and the K21 we produced a series of short art documentaries on the new artist rooms in 2017.