Jens Kothe

BIO | SELECTED WORKS | cv

Jens Kothe lives and works in Bochum and Düsseldorf. His practice explores the physical and sensual qualities of materials, translating impressions of the human body and everyday surroundings into tactile wall objects and sculptural forms.

Working with materials such as fabric, tiles, glass and wood, Kothe creates muted, fleshy surfaces shaped by soft curves, subtle convexities and cavities reminiscent of enlarged fragments of the body. Rather than representing the figure as a whole, he isolates and abstracts its traces through photography, clay modelling and moulds taken from body parts. At the same time, his forms can recall familiar objects or elements of domestic and industrial environments. This ambiguity gives the works a peculiar physical presence.

They operate somewhere between image, object and counterpart, inviting an almost instinctive desire to touch while remaining deliberately fragmentary. The tension between organic associations and constructed forms reflects a body negotiating the industrial world around it. Through material, scale and fragmentation, Kothe creates intimate encounters in which atmosphere becomes as important as the object itself.

Jens Kothe has already participated in several group exhibitions at BARBÉ and has also exhibited at various galleries and institutional venues, including: Kunsthaus NRW, Aachen (DE), Sothu, Zurich (CH), Swivel Gallery, New York (US), Eigen + Art Lab, Berlin (DE), Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum (DE), Berthold Pott, Cologne (DE), Beacon / Paulina Caspari, Munich (DE), Cassina Projects, Milan (IT), Kunstverein Heppenheim, Heppenheim (DE), Museum Goch, Goch (DE), Swivel Saugerties, Saugerties (US), Downs & Ross, New York (US), Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden (DE), Platform 6A Deweer, Otegem (BE), Dortmunder U / Museum Ostwall, Dortmund (DE), Efremidis Gallery, Berlin (DE), Kunsthaus Essen, Essen (DE), DAMA, Turin (IT), RFK, Düsseldorf (DE), Pfirsich, Cologne (DE), Philara Collection, Düsseldorf (DE), Rod Barton, London (UK), Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (DE), Hyperraum e.V., Bochum (DE), Goethe-Institut, Paris (FR), McKinsey & Company, Düsseldorf (DE), Kunsthallen Bochum, Bochum (DE), Worringer Str. 57, Düsseldorf (DE), Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (DE), Cubus Kunsthalle, Duisburg (DE), Ruhrtriennale, Bochum (DE), Museo Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo, Arrecife, Lanzarote (ES).