Frank Maibier’s current exhibition at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz takes visitors into a world in which materials leave their boundaries and find new forms of expression. The Chemnitz-based artist experiments with paper with great sensitivity, folding, colouring, rolling and perforating it. These processes go beyond the usual properties of the material and open up new perspectives on its structures and possibilities for movement. But Maibier’s creative cosmos extends far beyond paper: his repertoire also includes large sculptures made of wood, steel and plastic. For these, Maibier develops a formal vocabulary that oscillates between constructivist structures and organic forms, always thematising the interplay between statics and balance.
The exhibition presents an impressive cross-section of the artist’s various creative phases. On display are not only works on paper and drawings, but also sculptures, installations and sound works. Particularly noteworthy are new works developed especially for the presentation, which invite visitors to engage with materiality, space and movement. Frank Maibier succeeds in creating a keen eye for the hidden potential of materials and making it possible to experience their transformation into artistic forms of expression.
