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Wolfgang Laib's exhibition The Beginning of Something Else at the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart opens on June 17, 2023.

Wolfgang Laib creates his subtle works  in an exchange with the natural environment and in tune with the seasons. Whether it be gathering pollen for his famous minimalistic, luminous yellow floor works or the lengthy production of his sculptures made of beeswax—respect for nature is the artist’s driving force. Since the late 1970s, Laib’s thinking and art have posed questions about our being and actions as part of fragile living habitats and in this respect could not be more topical.
In this exhibition developed in collaboration  with Wolfgang Laib, the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is presenting  pieces from the most important work complexes in each of the artist’s creative phases. On view are, for instance, “Rice Houses” and “Ziggurats,” a selection of drawings, as well as a pollen  field. The exhibition also features Laib’s latest works, the  “Towers of Silence.” It thus ties in with an important focus of the collection, since Laib is represented in the Kunstmuseum’s holdings with several exemplary works, and his “Wax Room,” permanently installed since 2005 (in the collection basement),  is one of seven rooms of this kind in existence worldwide.

The publication accompanying the exhibition  is an exceptional and personal book. In it, the artist brings together texts and images that are of particular importance to  his thinking and artistic work. Among them are passages from the Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem about the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, and quotes from the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the American artist Agnes Martin. A variety of illustrations complement the texts, be they private photos, images of Parsi rituals, or installation views of his own art works. The book offers a new approach to the work of Wolfgang Laib.

Buchmann Galerie has represented Wolfgang Laib since 1987 and has held 18 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions with this outstanding artist.

Opening reception 16 June, 7-9 pm

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
Kleiner Schlossplatz 1
70173 Stuttgart