Joseph Kosuth

The exhibition opens with a neon piece by Joseph Kosuth, one of the pioneers of conceptual art who explores the role of language and how images function as ideas. The work was part of a monumental installation, consisting of quotes on 86 panels. Referring to the theories on the self by one of the first existential philosophers, Søren Kierkegaard, Réflecteur de Réflecteur becomes the starting point not only for introspection but also for relation to the world. For the artist, the context itself constitutes an important part of his installation, expanding here to encompass the architectural and psychological setting of the former prison.

Joseph Kosuth (1945, USA) lives in New York and London. His nearly 40-year inquiry into the relation of language to art has taken the form of installations, museum exhibitions, public commissions and publications throughout the world, including Documenta (1972, 1978, 1982, 1992) and Venice Biennale (1976, 1993, 1999).