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Robert Elfgen

Robert Elfgen

Willkommen in meiner Welt

Robert Elfgen (b. Wesseling, 1972; lives and works in Cologne and Berlin) studies the interrelations between nature, man, and society. The points of departure for his works are biographical experiences and everyday observations from which he extracts his leitmotifs: liminal rituals and situations of transition, physical journeys and mental passages or the cycles of nature in its varying states of aggregation. In his room-specific installations, he arranges sculptures, assemblages, collages, and films to form allegories in space that adumbrate an order of civilization derived from nature. Elfgen’s works unite improvisation and perfect craftsmanship. Like a bricoleur he avails himself of what is at hand and playfully integrates it into new contexts. Using old artistic techniques such as glass engraving, inlaying, etching, or relief printing, he combines found materials to create complex and fascinating objects and images that seem to mark transitions between exterior and interior worlds.

The catalogue presents a first comprehensive survey of Robert Elfgen’s works and installations created between 2003 and the present. With essays by Lilian Haberer and Ruth Kißling.