Peter Blum is pleased to announce the exhibition Esther Kläs: Nobody Home opening on November 17th at Peter Blum Chelsea, 526 West 29th Street, New York. This will be Esther Kläs’ first exhibition with the gallery. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, November 17th, from 6 – 8 pm.

For her first solo show in New York, the German born artist will exhibit a group of work that specify the strength and independence of sculpture. The title of the exhibition, Nobody Home, evokes the notion of autonomy - a place for an indefinable species with a humanistic spirit and presence. Combining traditional art materials such as clay, plaster and ceramics with more industrial elements such as resin and concrete, her freestanding sculptures confront the viewer and assert themselves into the space.

Despite the idea of stillness often associated with sculpture, Kläs' works contain the energy of movement while integrating joint body parts in monolithic structures counterbalanced and held up by frames and ephemeral supports. In "All In", 2011 a varied and multiform set of figures dialogue together in the main space, as in a family picture of humankind, keeping a precarious and yet controlled equilibrium. Through the cast, the artist is able to frieze a movement at the highest point of tension and the sculptures keep echoing that vibrating instant, like adjectives with a spirit.

The direct impact and physicality of the sculptures challenge the viewer to read through the forms, discerning the movements and searching deeper in an effort to elaborate a reference.

Esther Kläs was born in 1981 in Mainz, Germany. She graduated from the Art Academy of Düsseldorf and received her MFA from Hunter College in 2010. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her artwork has been included in numerous exhibitions both in Europe and the United States. Recent exhibitions include Rise Rose Risen at the Emily Harvey Foundation in Venice, Italy, Immaterial, Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas, curated by Fairfax Dorn, and Knight’s Move at The Sculpture Center, New York curated by Fionn Meade. She will also be included in a group exhibition at Galerija Gregor Podnar Berlin curated by Chris Sharp in November, 2011.

For additional information and photographic material please contact Laura Pinello at [email protected].

www.peterblumgallery.com