Madeleine Boschan

Untitled (lemon) 2017, dispersion, eggtempera, pigments and plywood, 42 x 32 x 22 cm.
Turning a disc and, in turn, being turned as well, 2015, coated aluminium, 265 x 150 x 37,5 cm.
Untitled (crispy and uncompromising), 2018, acrylic, champagnechalk, dispersal, pigments and plywood
Turning: dialogue with left, 2018, acrylic, champagne chalk, dispersal, pigments and plywood, 64 x 6
Turning: dialogue with right, 2018, acrylic, champagne chalk, dispersal, pigments and plywood, 64 x
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view

‘Tulips and chimneys’ is a solo exhibition by German artist Madeleine Boschan (Braunschweig, 1979) whose sculptures should be first and foremost read as propositional: concrete objects that pose the essential question of how our body engages with and finds its place in the real world.
Behind her formalist abstract vocabulary there is a social dimension that crystallises in the very pressing issue of how to life together. Drawing productively from other disciplines such as architecture and literature, her monument-like sculptures articulate a wide range of references and investigate the relation between body and space. Similarly to what Rosalind Krauss described in her seminal article ‘Sculpture in the expanded field’ (1979), in Boschan’s work the logic of the monument is simultaneously reaffirmed and undermined: while her sculptures respond to and are inscribed in a given context, their eminently utopian and abstract nature transcend any form of specificity thus opening up to new possibilities.
It is perhaps the idea of the threshold, so present in all her recent work, what imbues Boschan’s practice with an architectural dimension that unequivocally draws the viewer to experience the space in so many different ways. This feeling is enhanced by the fact that her sculptures very often find inspiration in architecture (e.g. classical, Japanese or modernist). On a discursive level, her interest in this discipline lies in architecture’s essentially idealistic and humanistic nature. As a result, the beholder’s subjective experience is at the heart of her artistic concerns; it is all about the relation between the body, the object and a given context that leads her to investigate not only the physical but also the affective and social qualities of the space. Interestingly, Madeleine Boschan’s sculptures convey a strong sense of inhabiting; while the elegant turning a disc and, in turn, being turned as well, (light pink and turquoise) (2015) allows the visitor to literally walk through it, her model-like plywood structures present themselves as rather ambivalent objects that ask the viewer for a physical as well as a conceptual repositioning.
Her abstract vocabulary of pure lines and gracious volumes inscribes itself in the Modern European abstract tradition, especially akin to those experiments that stemmed from Minimalism and the Hard Edge. In Boschan’s case, however, the sculptures playfully avoid being apprehended all at once; there is a productive optical effect operating here where, as the viewer moves through the space, the different planes and angles shift, collapse and reappear creating an infinite number of vantage points. Additionally, the brightly coloured monochrome surfaces and the astute combination of light and shade, as well as the understanding of the void as an integral part of the sculptures, contribute to a process of dematerialisation by which the artworks gain a certain ethereal quality. The exhibition also includes a series of wall pieces where the linear motives relate to the sculptures’ very own shapes; as if they marked the remains of an ancient civilisation, Madeleine Boschan threads a narrative that again brings to the fore socio- aesthetic propositions such as the monument, the place and the body.
Finally, ‘Tulips and chimneys’ borrows its title from E.E. Cummings first collection of poems published in 1923. His personal style, in line with avant-garde movements such as Cubism, challenged traditional grammar and linguistic rules and had a profound impact on later generations. With this literary reference Madeleine Boschan intentionally points to a radical stance in harmony with her very own artistic practice; a body of work based upon continuous experimentation that investigates the divide between the subjective and objective realms, particularly the precise moment when we come to experience the real world.
Madeleine Boschan lives and works in Berlin / Germany. She studied at Hochschule für bildende Künste Braunschweig / Germany (2000 – 2006) and Ecole d ́Art du Havre / France (2002). She won the first prize for art in architecture of the Institute of Quantum Physics, Ulm University / Germany (2017–2018). Her recent solo exhibitions include: BB 105 /146, Galerie Lange + Pult, Zurich, Switzerland (2017) What lays bare in me, Collectors Agenda, Vienna / Austria (2017), in which its gaze, bent merely on itself, upholds and gleams, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel Aviv / Israel (2016), Escapement (with Andy Hope), Neue Galerie Gladbeck / Germany (2015), Technicolor: a) Feld, b) Fläche, Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg / Germany (2014).

Madeleine Boschan
born 1979 in Braunschweig, lives in Berlin

solo exhibitions (selection):

2019
Tulips and chimneys, Galería Maior, Palma de Mallorca (upcoming)
In twilight these ridiculous and exquisite things descendingly move among the people, gently and imperishably, Sunday-S Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark (upcoming)
The Enormous Room, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria (upcoming)

2017
BB 105 / 146, Galerie Lange & Pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Partance, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria
What lays bare in me, Collectors Agenda, Vienna, Austria

2016
in which its gaze, bent merely on itself, upholds and gleams, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2015
Escapement, Neue Galerie Gladbeck (with Andy Hope 1930) What ́s wrong with your eyes, Larry, Berlin
if ever before, far off, and listen, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria
or am I seduced by its ambient mauve, Herrenhaus Edenkoben

2014
Technicolor: a) Feld, b) Fläche, Marburger Kunstverein, Marburg
Deal with ́em, Jagla Ausstellungsraum, Cologne
Lucky Pierre style, Galerie Bernd Kugler c/o abc – art berlin contemporary, Berlin
Capri, Vitamin, Reutlingen

2013
Say a body. Where none. Say a place. Where none. For the body. To be in., Kunstverein Ulm
Closed Space Stories, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Don’t you wonder sometimes `bout sound and vision ..., Kunstverein Heppenheim
Scope = immeasurable, Einraumhaus, Mannheim
Anwesenheit unerreichbarer Bezugspunkte, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria

2012
An open Field, a Factory, a By-pass, Gloria, Berlin

2011
Kayfabe, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria RoidRage, Kwadrat, Berlin
Nite ix, Autocenter, Berlin

2010
Kalt, modern und teuer, Kwadrat, Berlin
Cosmic Camping, Appartement, Berlin

Group ecxhibitions (selection):

2018
German Art, Contra Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Harpune international, Knust x Kunz, Munich
Junge Kunst / Junge Künstler, Skulpturenpark Heidelberg (cat.)
Light in / as image, Daimler Art Collection, Stuttgart-Möhringen
First Look, A Space, Berlin

2017
Lob des Schattens (Italienischer Raum), Marc Straus Gallery, New York, US
Modern sculpture, Galería Casado Santapau, Madrid
Artists ́ Books for Everything, Weserburg | Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bremen
Zehn Jahre Zürich, Galerie Lange + Pult, Zurich, Switzerland
Berlin-Klondyke, Umetnostna Galereija Maribor, Slowenia
16 godina, Galeriji Contra, Zagreb, Croatia (cat.)
Mehr Raum, Novomatic Forum, Vienna, Austria (cat.)
Three, two, one, Abbot Kinney, Venice, US
The Gift Collection, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria

2016
Enea Tree Museum, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland
Welt am Rand, Kunsthaus Erfurt
Jubiläum, Larry, Berlin
bedsitter, Mirante, Vienna, Austria
Still Still Life, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria
Moby Dick Filt, Secession, Vienna, Austria

2015
Wo ist hier?# 2: Raum und Gegenwart, Kunstverein Reutlingen
Ypres 1914 | 2014: Vanitas extended, Stedelijk Museum, Ieper, Belgium (cat.)
18, Galerija Contra, Zagreb, Croatia
Caritatis, Semper Depot, Vienna, Austria (cat.)
Standard International – Post Spatial Surfaces No. II, Geisberg, Berlin
NAK Bene t, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen
Berlin - Klondyke: 1. Berlin-Edition - Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
Leipziger Edition, Kulturforum Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock
All up, Kosmetiksalon Babette, Berlin

2014
Luggage and observations, Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart (cat.)
Present, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/ Bethanien, Berlin
Psycho Killer, qu’est-ce que c’est?, Galerie Börgmann, Mönchengladbach

2013
Novecento mai visto. From Albers to Warhol to now, Museo Santa Giulia, Brescia, Italy (cat.)
Batman Elektronik, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Berlin (cat.)
Publications, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria
Dawn of the Hermetics, Bar Babette, Berlin
From Outer Galaxy to Inner Atom (Stelldichein), Bruch und Dallas, Cologne (cat.)
Entwicklungsgeschichte der Kunst 1830 – 2140, Remise Kuckei und Kuckei, Berlin (cat.)
Berlin Klondyke, Hipp Halle, Gmunden, Austria
The Legend of the Shelves, Autocenter, Berlin
Berlin Klondyke, Alte Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig
Sad Song Symposium, General Public, Berlin

2012
Accelerating toward Apocalypse (Private/ Corporate VII), Daimler Contemporary, Berlin (cat.)
Eine Frau, ein Baum, eine Kuh, Kunstraum München, Munich (cat.)
Gare de l’Est, Esslinger Kunstverein, Villa Merkel, Esslingen
Wunderkammer, Autocenter, Berlin (cat.)
Es gibt ...There is ...Re exionen aus einem beschädigten Leben? Re ections from a damaged Life?, b-05, Montabaur, Germany (cat.)
En Désordre, Philara – Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst, Dusseldorf
Berlin Klondyke, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen
Transformationen, FN, Friedrichshafen
Rekollekt, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin
Abstract confusion, Kunsthalle Erfurt (cat.)
Status. Berlin (1), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (cat.)
Black Oriental, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria
Abstract confusion, Neue Galerie Gladbeck (cat.)
Eine Frau, ein Baum, eine Kuh, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt (cat.)

2011
Based in Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (cat.)
Dormition, Contra Galerija, Koper, Slowenia
Responsolidarity – Galerie Utopia, Remap3, Athens, Greek
Berlin Klondyke, ACLA – Art Center Los Angeles, USA
Synecdoche, Bourouina Gallery, Berlin (cat.)
Abstract confusion, Kunstverein Ulm (cat.)
Diktatur Charlottenburg, Kosmetiksalon Babette, Berlin
Responsolidarity – Galerie Utopia, Kunstakademie Münster
Moraltarantula #5 – Perfektion in Vollendung, Zollamt-Oberhafen, Hamburg
Funkhaus Kunstpreis 2011, Funkhaus, Berlin
Born after 1924, Castle eld Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom (cat.)
The Visitation, Galerie Hartwich, Sellin, Germany
Abstract confusion, b-05, Montabaur, Germany (cat.)
Destructionconstruction, Tape Modern, Berlin
Berlin Klondyke, The Odd Gallery – Klondike Institute of Art & Culture, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada

2010
Abstrakt, Forgotten Bar, Berlin
Gentle Giants, Kwadrat, Berlin
Bürokunst für die Mittelschicht, ArtThiess, Munich
Ayran & Yoga – The 1st Berlin Kreuzberg Biennale, Berlin
Ein Fest für Boris, Vittorio Manalese & Fils, Berlin (cat.)
Equinox – Highlight what you love, Grimm Museum, Berlin (cat.)
Sculpture#6, Kantine, Berlin