Beneath the remains of the 19th century ‘palace’ that the Bavarian society portraitist Franz von Lenbach constructed for himself lies a concrete bunker linking what is now the Lenbachhaus museum to Munich’s metro system. It currently hosts an exhibition of sculpture and film by German pop artist Thomas Bayrle.
The gallery is filled with an array of internal combustion engines isolated from their original vehicles and stripped back to reveal their moving parts. They range in scale from a large radial propeller plane engine to those found in a Vespa scooter.
Gummibaum, by Thomas Bayrle, 1993
Titled ‘Monstranz’, the former takes its name the ornate ecclesiastical vessels used to display sacred artefacts. The noise of engines is accompanied by individual soundtracks that variously incorporate either religion or popular song. ‘Monstranz’ is accompanied by the faint sound of a rosary recital. The Vespa by Maria Callas singing O cieli azzurri from Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. Elsewhere a high Catholic mass and Edith Piaf can be heard.
The cacophony appears to be conducted by pairs of disembodied windscreen wipers. One, attached to the wall, glides over a glazed Warhol portrait of Mao, accompanied by the Warhol-produced I’ll be your mirror from The Velvet Underground and Nico. Another free-standing set emits Erik Satie’s repetitive Musique d'Ameublement. The 79-year-old Bayrle has described works in this exhibition as being like ‘compressed cathedrals’ (in terms of their engineering) and drawn comparison between the rhythms of prayer and of machines.
‘Rosario’, 2012.
A series of stop motion animations echo the shuddering mechanisms. They explore fusions of the organic and industrial from pedestrianised precincts to cloned sheep. Elsewhere a 30m long grey, wooden relief mounted on the concrete walls pulls everything together. It depicts a stylised autobahn (a recurrent motif in Bayrle’s practice since the late 1970s) and echoes the plant systems of this cultural and transport hub.
The gallery is filled with an array of internal combustion engines (pictured, Big Block, 2012) isolated from their original vehicles...
...and stripped back to reveal their moving parts.
Rosenkranz, 2009
Conductor (Ford Galaxy Wiper), 2011
Scheibenwischer (Dirigent), 2013
Rosaire, 2012
INFORMATION
‘Thomas Bayrle’ is on view until 5 March. For more information, visit the Lenbachhaus website
-
20 things that positively delighted us in and around Design Miami this yearFrom covetable 20th-century masterpieces to a tower made from ceramic pickles, these were the works that stood out amid the blur of Art Week
-
Montcalm Mayfair opens a new chapter for a once-overlooked London hotelA thoughtful reinvention brings craftsmanship, character and an unexpected sense of warmth to a London hotel that was never previously on the radar
-
Magniberg’s latest bedwear collaboration with Our Legacy is beautifully sun-faded and lived-inColoured using dyes derived from plants and minerals, the new bedding sets and pyjamas are meant to evoke the feeling of ‘a well-worn band T-shirt or your favourite vintage sweatshirt’, says Our Legacy co-founder Jockum Hallin
-
Rolf Sachs’ largest exhibition to date, ‘Be-rühren’, is a playful study of touchA collection of over 150 of Rolf Sachs’ works speaks to his preoccupation with transforming everyday objects to create art that is sensory – both emotionally and physically
-
Architect Erin Besler is reframing the American tradition of barn raisingAt Art Omi sculpture and architecture park, NY, Besler turns barn raising into an inclusive project that challenges conventional notions of architecture
-
What is recycling good for, asks Mika Rottenberg at Hauser & Wirth MenorcaUS-based artist Mika Rottenberg rethinks the possibilities of rubbish in a colourful exhibition, spanning films, drawings and eerily anthropomorphic lamps
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Inside Yinka Shonibare's first major show in AfricaBritish-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is showing 15 years of work, from quilts to sculptures, at Fondation H in Madagascar
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
