In a deep frame, behind a pane of glass with a reflective iridescent effect, it is at first hard to even discern the reliefs in the latest series by Wolfgang Flad. But taking time to move back and forth in front of the work, to discover what lies behind the glass barrier, the viewer is treated to the exotic, rarefied surface that eventually reveals itself.

Punctuated by dynamic impaction holes and deep craters, these seemingly massive medium and large-format wall reliefs appear to be relicts retrieved from the depths of the deepest oceans or from another planet. The object comes and goes, vibrates and oscillates in the chatoyant reflections on the glass. The viewer is always mirrored there as well, stepping into the work, so to speak, while extending it to another dimension in the viewing space.  

Aluminum cast sculptures seize on the theme of opposites and the cunning interplay of contrasting surfaces that is a defining feature of the work of Wolfgang Flad: matte and glossy; natural and processed; alien yet somehow familiar; at once near and far.

New large-scale biomorphic wooden sculptures twist and twine in space, their graceful curves and delicate braches appearing to dance with the air in playful harmony. The formal complexity of these pieces challenges the viewer to appreciate them from all sides, to experience their effect in an intensive exchange that is both visual and physical.

Wolfgang Flad (*1974 in Reutlingen, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. His work has been shown at numerous institutions worldwide and is in the public collections of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the Kunsthaus Zurich, the Centraal Museum, Utrecht and the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida.