Andrey Klassen

For the new project space on Admiralitätstraße in Hamburg, Andrey Klassen is developing a large-scale installation that translates his drawing practice into the spatial realm. Starting from Plato’s allegory of the cave describing the path from illusion to truth, the work blurs the boundary between semblance and reality.

In the installation, motifs from Hamburg’s city history – such as the Great Fire of 1842 – overlap with art-historical references such as Christ in Limbo by the Follower of Hieronymus Bosch. Both points of reference appear as sombre foreshadowings of a present in which disaster, faith in control and collective denial overlap. The exhibition title Keiner rannte (Nobody Ran) is taken from the song Hamburg brennt (Hamburg is Burning) by the band 1000 Robota, known for responding to socio-political crises with provocative lyrics.

The exhibition thus alludes to fire as a force that is both destructive and enlightening and challenges visitors to question their own perceptions: Which images do we accept as reality? And which insights have we ignored for too long?

Curated by Anna Nowak