Helmut Lang Unveils Provocative Sculptures at Iconic LA Home

Helmut Lang’s exhibition ‘What Remains Behind’ at the MAK Center presents provocative sculptures within the modernist Schindler House. Utilizing materials like mattress foam and resin, Lang’s work explores themes of memory and desire. Curated by Neville Wakefield, the sculptures relate intimately to the architectural context, prompting reflections on the nature of home and presence against a backdrop of recent disasters. The exhibition is on display until May 4, 2025.

In a dazzling intersection of art and architecture, Helmut Lang’s latest exhibition, ‘What Remains Behind,’ opens at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles. This showcase features provocative sculptures displayed within the minimalist confines of the Schindler House, a modernist masterpiece crafted by architect Rudolph Schindler in the early 1920s.

Lang’s sculptures, made of unconventional materials like mattress foam, wax, resin, and latex, evoke a visceral aesthetic, their perverse shapes resembling both bodily forms and grotesque motifs. Titles like ‘Fist I’ (2015–17) and ‘Prolapse II’ (2024) playfully provoke feelings of desire and disgust, exploring sexual narratives that reverberate throughout the collection.

Curated by Neville Wakefield, known for his immersive site-specific exhibitions, the sculptures harmonize beautifully with Schindler’s architectural vision. Their rich, amber-brown hues complement the house’s redwood frames and striking copper fireplaces, reflecting a connection between art and environment that enhances both.

As Beth Stryker, director of the MAK Center, describes, the sculptures draw from the house’s sculptural qualities, engaging with its historical layers. Schindler’s design fosters a sense of communal space, where rooms seamlessly connect with nature, emphasizing the fluidity of function and form.

Wakefield highlights the social and intellectual experiments embedded in the house, suggesting that both the architectural and sculptural pieces challenge traditional boundaries between inside and outside. In this context, Lang’s work embodies a narrative of memory, evoking ideas of absence and presence that resonate well with the overarching themes of the exhibition.

The materials chosen by Lang carry whispers of history, fostering contemplation on how the past merges with contemporary existence. With the recent memory of devastating wildfires looming over Los Angeles, the art beckons viewers to consider how time shapes the stories held within these materials.

‘What Remains Behind’ remains on view at the MAK Center until May 4, 2025, inviting audiences to explore the intricate relationship between memory, architecture, and sculptural form through a lens that captures both the visceral and the beautiful.

Helmut Lang’s exhibition at the MAK Center elegantly fuses provocative sculpture with the avant-garde spirit of the Schindler House. Through unexpected materials and evocative forms, Lang interrogates themes of memory and presence while relating his work to the house’s communal legacy. This captivating interaction of art and architecture encourages reflection on historical narratives amidst contemporary challenges, marking the exhibition as a significant cultural experience in Los Angeles.

Original Source: www.wallpaper.com