Martin Margiela has arrived in Berlin. His first solo exhibition in Germany, currently hosted at the Konrad Fischer Galerie, marks a definitive step in the designer’s migration from high fashion into fine art. The show, which remains open through December 19, 2024, moves past the garment to examine the intersections of privacy, human presence, and architectural space.
The Labyrinthine Logic of Absence
The gallery functions as an immersive, maze-like environment. Margiela uses partitions and veils to dictate how visitors move through the space, forcing a slower, more deliberate interaction with the objects on display. Central to this experience is the sculpture “Audience” (2026). Composed of 20 reclaimed cinema seats, the work strips away comfort; Margiela has removed the original upholstery, replacing it with cold plaster and acrylic casts. Objects once intended for shared observation are rendered static, turning the act of sitting into an act of being observed.
Domestic Traces and Organic Patterns
The installation explores the concept of absence through a diverse range of media. A monumental white fur gate stands alongside flattened boxer briefs arranged into tondos. Elsewhere, the artist’s focus on organic patterns manifests in a crown of hair detailed with an overwritten Fibonacci spiral. These works are complemented by the “Vortex” sculptures, constructed from what appears to be bathroom tiling—a material choice that reinforces the exhibition’s preoccupation with domestic privacy and the traces left by human inhabitants.
From Elusive Designer to Fine Artist
For decades, Margiela was known as one of the most elusive figures in the fashion industry, maintaining a strict commitment to anonymity. Since his departure from the fashion world, that focus on the incognito has transitioned into his fine art practice. This Berlin installation follows a similar exhibition held at Tokyo’s Kudan House in the spring of 2024, where Margiela first began utilizing the architecture of the space to control the viewer’s encounter with his work.
Visitor Information
The exhibition is located at Konrad Fischer Galerie, Neue Grünstraße 12, 10179 Berlin. It is open to the public until December 19, 2024. These works serve as an extension of the artist’s long-standing exploration of the human form, moving away from the body as a garment-carrier and toward the body as a conceptual, often absent, subject within a private space.
Worth a look