Concrete Thinking

Concrete Thinking
Steffi Klenz

Download list of works

Download essay by Duncan Wooldridge

Read ArtReview's review of the exhibition

Duncan Wooldridge led a walk through of the exhibition on Saturday 16th July at 11am. 

Sid Motion Gallery is pleased to present ‘Concrete Thinking’, the gallery’s first exhibition with Steffi Klenz.

The exhibition includes two recent series. The first is a series titled ‘Tensed Muscles’, which was commissioned in 2019 by Camden Alive Project, which is part of the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture. During 2019 Klenz spent time at the Maiden Lane Estate in Camden, talking with residents and immersing herself in the architecture of the space.
‘Tensed Muscles’ explores the relationship between the architectural promise of modernist living; of equality and opportunity, and the reality of living in Maiden Lane in the 40 years since its inception. The series was first shown at the British Museum, London in 2020, at Camden Arts Centre in 2021, and Biennale of Contemporary Photography at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2021.

The second series on show is titled ‘A Scholar’s Rock’ that refers to the Barcelona Pavilion designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1929 . In this series, like in ‘Tensed Muscles’, photographic prints are overlaid onto pencil drawing studies. In this case, the folded prints are presented on top of pencil studies of various scholar’s rocks. A scholar’s rock functions as “vessels of modern fantasy and imagination” (Craig Clunas) and are suggestive of rocks, plants, bodies, flames and mountains. The framed drawings are shown in sculptural constructions influenced by the works of El Lissitzky. Like Lissitzky’s works dating between 1919-1927 that he referred to by the work Proun, an acronym for “project for the affirmation of the new” in Russian, the constructions use coloured glass, glass shards and steel that display the work from many angles.

On 25th June 2022, ‘Tensed Muscles’ came alive through an immersive digital experience in augmented reality on Maiden Lane Estate, as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
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Artist Biography

Steffi Klenz is an artist based in London who works with photography and video. Her practice has been consistently preoccupied with the built environment, critically exploring the notion of place and spatiality. Her works indicate a clear interest in the political engagement with particular buildings, environments or geographies in conflict, considering the relationship between aesthetics, technology and representation.

Her work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally at institutions such as The British Museum, Camden Art Centre, Wellcome Collection London, The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and The Royal Academy in London, FotoMuseum Antwerp, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Los Angeles Centre for Digital Arts, Phoenix Art Museum, The Fine Art Museum Luleå, The Finish Museum of Photography, The SeaCity Museum in Southampton, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen and Museum Künstlerkolonie in Darmstadt.

Her work has been reviewed in Art Monthly, Art Review, Art World China, Elephant Magazine, The Architectural Review, Photographies, Photography and Culture, History of Photography Journal and Portfolio Magazine.