Magali Reus: Halted Paves: Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster

Magali Reus (b.1981, The Hague) works a whole range of formal influences and art-historical references into her sculptures: she alludes to the domestic as well as the industrial, to the functional and also the decorative. As her formal point of departure, she uses the kind of objects we rely upon on daily but which we scarcely notice. All objects in our daily orbit fulfil either a specific role which the individual object’s design is geared towards, or alternatively, they serve an aesthetic purpose. Nevertheless, they invariable have a connection to man, his actions and body. This very relationship is manifestly apparent in Reus’s sculptures: the way in which the occasionally austere and smooth object can be charged with meaning, value or, to a certain extent, even personality by virtue of its interaction with man.

Reus is presenting two new series of works at the Westfälischer Kunstverein: “In Place Of” is dedicated to the curb as a spatially structural and structuring element which many a person effect is ensnared, duly mutating into a public archaeological relic. “Leaves” is concerned with padlocks, namely their specific job of concealment yet at the same time vividly exposing their inner workings and functionality. As in the case of all Reus’s work, each one of these elements is compulsively detailed and has been elaborately designed and manufactured by the artist. Not one single piece of apparent detritus on the curb is a found object. Thus, Reus plays upon those immaculate surfaces so characteristic of today’s industrial design. functional design of Reus’s sculptures makes them seem familiar yet same time they are imbued with individual traits as a result of her interventions.

Photos by Thorsten Arendt