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In his exhibition “thereafter,” Ian Waelder for the first time connects the façade, atrium, and arcade of the Kestner Gesellschaft into a spatial narrative between inside and outside, past and present. His works explore the limits of memory: familial traces, biographical breaks, everyday remnants—not as evidence, but as fragile carriers of a history that defies a linear narrative.
At the center of Waelder’s solo exhibition is a labyrinthine room made of cardboard, evoking associations with a moving box. The arcade’s offset entrance draws the eye away from obvious paths. Inside, sculptures, newspaper collages, a piano melody, and the material cardboard and light condense into a multi-layered collage—including a newspaper article covered in oat flakes and traces of butter entitled “Mercy,” a deformed shoe last with a porcelain-like nose titled Sprain (38) (2023), and molded insoles from the Bystander series (2025) with dangling shoelaces. These are traces of domestic routines...More
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Press Release
In his exhibition “thereafter,” Ian Waelder for the first time connects the façade, atrium, and arcade of the Kestner Gesellschaft into a spatial narrative between inside and outside, past and present. His works explore the limits of memory: familial traces, biographical breaks, everyday remnants—not as evidence, but as fragile carriers of a history that defies a linear narrative.
At the center of Waelder’s solo exhibition is a labyrinthine room made of cardboard, evoking associations with a moving box. The arcade’s offset entrance draws the eye away from obvious paths. Inside, sculptures, newspaper collages, a piano melody, and the material cardboard and light condense into a multi-layered collage—including a newspaper article covered in oat flakes and traces of butter entitled “Mercy,” a deformed shoe last with a porcelain-like nose titled Sprain (38) (2023), and molded insoles from the Bystander series (2025) with dangling shoelaces. These are traces of domestic routines...More
