Jan De Cock is one of the most surprising newcomers on the art scene. Following a sensational museum debut in Ghent in 2001, the Belgian artist placed his most spectacular building in a shipyard in San Sebastián for Manifesta 5. Jan De Cock’s interventions in space and time are always articulated in several stages. First, massive architectonic alterations break up the existing space. Wall, floor, and ceiling elements of wood and other materials and interlocking niches and boxes create a rigorous and geometric but also mysterious and seductive landscape that encroaches on the viewer’s gaze and continually reorganizes it.

Finally, the process of creation of the artist’s temporary “Denkmäler” (monuments) is reiterated in the form of photographs. For the presentation at the Schirn, Jan De Cock will develop, for the first time in Germany, a monumental work that will penetrate the interior of the building from outside and transform the site.