The diversity of the surface qualities, materials and structures makes one think of a cabinet of wonders. Rich in detail, filigree, with extremely fine colour gradients or clear tones, a mirrorlike sheen or gentle lustre – the sculptures and drawings collected in the KunstHaus by Axel Anklam, Angelika Arendt, Jan Großmann and Kavata Mbiti draw all eyes towards them and send subtle movement impulses out into the room. Whether made with modern or traditional working materials – in a wide range of materials including glass-fibre art, stainless steel, and Alu-Dibond to ceramic, wood, wax, paper and canvas – all the works surprise us with their great sensuality. What connects the four artists is a fascination for the richness of forms in nature, as well as the ordered structures, repeating processes and metamorphoses one can experience there.

The exhibition shows the artistically exploratory view of micro- and macrocosms in selected positions with contemporary art from Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony, with individual echoes of myths and analogies that have been connected with our perception of nature since time immemorial. Subtle vibrations and energies become tangible in the interplay between the large- and small-format works that were made to be shown both in buildings and outside. The sculpted organisms made of ceramic by Angelika Arendt enter unavoidably into a relationship with her fine drawings, which appear to grow out of themselves. Here, the gracefully constructed, vertically structured sculptural works of Kavata Mbiti made of angular wooden rods interact with her large-format paper works, which are as poetic as they are expressive, and convey to the onlooker a contrast that gives direction. The incisions, folds and bends by Jan Großmann explore the space in free formations with clear colour contrasts, while the sculptures and relief works of Axel Anklam with their intricate surface qualities, transparent or reflecting, incorporate the space with apparently weightless ease, bringing in the light as a mutable accomplice.

As tangible as the multi-perspective sculptural works are with their very different materials, and as much as they still allow themselves to be captured closely by the eye, they remain “unfathomable” and nevertheless encompassing, revealing the artistic idea and the structures they have borrowed from a nature whose resources they mine.

Axel Anklam was born in 1971 in Wriezen; in 1993 he achieved his Master title following his apprenticeship as an artist blacksmith, from 1998-2001 he studied at the HfKD Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, and from 2002 at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin; in 2006 he was a master student under Tony Cragg, in 2010 a visiting professor for sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Art in Stuttgart. The artist has received many awards, among these the 2017 Prize from the Academy of the Arts Berlin in the Fine Arts category, in 2015 the 1st prize for “Kunst am Bau“ from the Justus Liebig University of Gießen, Veterinary Medicine Campus in cooperation with Thomas Henninger, in 2013 the first prize from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Berlin, Locations 3 and 4 in cooperation with Thomas Henninger, in 2010 the Ernst Rietschel Art Prize for Sculpture in Pulsnitz, in 2006 the Coburger Glaspreis as well as the Junge Kunst sponsorship prize in Saarbrücken and the Master Student Prize from the President of the University of the Arts, Berlin. In 2003, he received the main prize in the “Die neue Berolina” sculpture competition, Berlin. The artist lives and works in Bad Freienwalde. Find out more on www.axelanklam.de

Angelika Arendt was born in 1975 in Böblingen; from 2002-2008 she studied Painting at the State Academy of the Arts in Karlsruhe, in 2008 she was a Master Student under Prof. Helmut Dorner; her awards include the 2014 sponsorship prize from Berlin Hyp, in 2010 the FSK – Innovation Prize