Grenzflächen

Jens Kothe

29 August — 4 October 2026 | Penitentenstraat 29, 9000 Gent, BE

BARBÉ is pleased to present Grenzflächen, the first solo exhibition by German artist Jens Kothe (1985, DE) at the gallery.

Following his earlier presentations at BARBÉ, Kothe now brings together a new body of work that further develops his exploration of the human body through tactile wall objects and sculptural forms. Working with materials such as upholstery wadding, silicone, wood, fabrics and pigments, he creates works that evoke skin, membranes and fragmented body parts without ever becoming fully figurative. Muted colours, soft curves and slightly convex surfaces give the objects a strong physical presence while inviting a more intimate and attentive way of looking.

The title Grenzflächen — literally translating as “boundary surfaces” — refers to the thresholds that run throughout Kothe’s practice: between body and object, interior and exterior, the organic and the constructed. His works exist in a space where painting and sculpture overlap, where familiar forms become strange, and where surfaces begin to function as sites of tension, vulnerability and closeness.

In Grenzflächen, Kothe presents a restrained yet deeply sensual installation in which atmosphere, material and perception become inseparable.

Jens Kothe presents tactile wall objects echoing the human body, the physical self. Take for instance the oval round cavities, like navels cut from the belly. As if they were enlarged body parts, Kothe’s objects are executed in muted, fleshy colours and shaped in slightly convex surfaces and soft curves begging to be touched. At the same time they often make you think of familiar elements of everyday life, such as benches. By making use of materials that evoke a certain intimacy, the artist welcomes the viewer into a private atmosphere. Although his works refer to the human body, it is never the human body as a whole. Instead it’s fragmented, degraded even, somehow trapped between its organic origins and the industrial world in which it is supposed to function, thus reflecting the struggle of man against the machine. ens Kothe (Germany, 1985) lives and works in Bochum and Düsseldorf. His work examines the “bodyness“ and sensuality of materials and objects from daily life like easy fabrics, tiles, glass and wood. He examines his environment, objects or bodies by taking photos,modelling with clay or taking moulds from body parts where he tries to document atmosphere. Jens Kothe’s objects work like pictures but mainly as “persons opposite“. The objects creates a physical presence in the room and so the aspect of atmosphere becomes relevant again. With all presence, the objects are also fragment like structures that arrouses tension. Tension between the observers eyes, that strives for entirety, and the picture he is confronted with.

Jens Kothe has already participated in several duo and 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)

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