“WEG MIT DER LEINWAND” (AWAY WITH THE CANVAS)

Rolf Nesch (1893-1975)

Cabinet exhibition

Villa Merkel presents works by artist Rolf Nesch (*1893 in Esslingen) from its own collection in two cabinet rooms. The exhibition is a co-operation with the current presentation "Prägungen und Entfaltungen. Rolf Nesch (1893-1975), Nadira Husain (*1980)" at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. On display are works from various creative phases of the artist, who emigrated to Norway in 1933 after the Nazi regime came to power. His art is characterised by his endeavour to merge material properties and visual design into a harmonious whole.

Guided tours (in German)

Thursday, 15 January, 18:30

Thursday, 29 January, 18:30

Rolf Nesch, Ragnhildrud, 1952
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024

6 December 2025 – January 2026

Opening: Friday, 5 December, 7 pm

Guest exhibition of the Esslinger Kunstverein:

Richard Merkle

A posthumous exhibition of works

From Breuer to van der Rohe, from Wegner to Starck, the history of chair design in the 20th century reflects the endeavour to achieve a perfect combination of function and form. The wall chairs, certainly the best-known object by Richard Merkle, differ from the aforementioned predecessors in many important aspects. Unsuitable for mass production, they are art objects and appear as geometric colour panels until a hidden mechanism folds the coloured surfaces into a rather spartan chair shape. The object is received through use. The colour combinations were chosen by the client at the time of creation. The small painted wooden panels serve as models for this, but are also valid as independent works of art. Their colour scheme was inspired by the Düsseldorf painter Imi Knoebel. Just as one must claim prominent teachers and role models for Richard Merkle as a person: Achim Kubinski, the legendary Stuttgart gallery owner, Joseph Kosuth, the American conceptual artist whose assistant he was for several years - to name just these two. His work, on the other hand, is genuine, sophisticated, meticulous, independent and among the best of contemporary art.

Curator: Christian Gögger

Richard Merkle, Picnic, 2018

Since February 2019

BELLE & APHRODITE

Augmented Reality

by Barbara Herold

In the app BELLE & APHRODITE for smartphone or tablet, it is possible to experience a walk-in audio-visual metamorphosis of virtual plants.

The 3D plant BELLE extends across the entire Merkelpark. As an interactive form-cloud, it leads visitors, on the basis of data regarding their location and movement, to a virtual rose at the centre of the park.

APHRODITE was designed for the skylit atrium. In recurrent audio-visual loops, the 3D installation develops into a Phalaenopsis, a familiar type of orchid. APHRODITE can be viewed from all perspectives and, in its overlapping of simulation space and actual space, plays with the experience of abstraction, proportional relationships, proximity and distance.

Barbara Herold (*1977) directs her attention to the shaping of reality through the media. She investigates structures and phenomena which have established themselves through the influence of media technology on society; she develops her own systems on the basis of prevalent design practices such as computation and algorithms. Her works arise in the dynamic field between analogue and digital technology.

Download App BELLE - APHRODITE

App Store & Google Play Store

Barbara Herold BELLE & APHRODITE, Seit Februar 2019