Lois Renner

Lois Renner studied painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy (under Gerhard Richter, amongst others) and for more than two decades worked with models that related to his studio situation at the time and to real biographical events. Lois Renner precisely constructed, arranged, built and painted models (on a scale of 1:10) of his later works, combining them with the possibilities of digital photography into finished paintings of their own, each one unique. Renner’s spatial model functions as an experimental laboratory into which he incorporates real objects and small or scaled-down objects, or object models (mini-books, drum kit in
Bibi
2015), and relates them to reproduced works from art history.

Renner’s works are held in numerous public and private collections (the Albertinum in Dresden, mumok in Vienna, the Salzburg Museum, Admont Abbey and many more). Well-known critics and art historians (including Jörg Heiser, Michael Wetzell, Ralf Christofori and Dr Hohwold) mention his work in a wide range of publications.

“A winding journey through art history. Der Standard/Bundesland | Page 40 | 5 January 2018

Circulation: 74,043 | Salzburg Museum here:

A Curvy Journey Through Art History. Der Standard/Bundesland | Page 40 | 5 January 2018

Morsbroich Castle, within whose walls the Morsbroich Museum has been housed since its foundation in 1951, was built during the Rococo period and extended in the Neo-Rococo style.

The Rococo was the artistic style that dominated the 18th century, from the Régence (1715–1723) to the end of the reign of Louis XV (1774). Nevertheless, its achievements have been all but forgotten and are often described using derogatory adjectives: saccharine, sweet, artificial, ostentatious, fanciful, and so on. Its triumphant spread from France across the whole of Europe, its chronological overlap and intertwining with the Enlightenment, as well as its influence on the history of ideas and art right up to the very latest contemporary art, are often overlooked.

The exhibition The Flexible Plan: Rococo in Contemporary Art will examine the survival of this major European style in contemporary art. The keyword ‘plan’ here evokes the regularity of the Baroque, from which the Rococo emerged, only to break away from it in the form of the rocaille, a plant or shell motif consisting of C- and S-curves. It embodies the flexibility and suppleness of this style, which has permeated all areas of art and culture.

Against this rich cultural backdrop, the exhibition The Flexible Plan: Rococo in Contemporary Art unfolds a multifaceted panorama of works. The castle’s historic architecture is conceived here as a partner and a playful counterpart to the artworks.

Featuring works by Leonor Antunes, Cornelia Badelita, Karla Black, Thierry Boutemy, Glenn Brown, Alice Channer, Edith Dekyndt, Anke Eilergerhard, Katharina Grosse, Jeppe Hein, Rachel Kneebone, Alexej Koschkarow, Lois Renner, Anri Sala, Markus Schinwald, Anj Smith and Pia Stadtbäumer

The exhibition is curated by Heike van den Valentyn and Stefanie Kreuzer.

You are cordially invited to the exhibition opening on Sunday, 23 September at 12 noon in the Hall of Mirrors at Museum Morsbroich.

Museum Morsbroich