Artist: Tobias Rehberger

In his exhibition o.T. (Untitled), Tobias Rehberger is presenting not only sculptures but also a new series of images that are based on a typographical adaptation of the Latin alphabet he purpose-created.

The choice of painterly medium may seem unusual for the sculptor at first sight, but with it he returns on the one hand to his first solo show "Rehbergerst" at Galerie Grässlin in 1994, in which, among other things, he displayed reproductions he had painted of his father; on the other, despite their two-dimensional character, thanks to the Op Art-like elements the images possess a certain object-like quality, something reinforced by the typographical nature of the painting: Each letter derives from the intersections of the color fields and the outer contours. The graphic design of the individual letters does not always follow their shape and abstracts away from the alphabet, which is simple to read, to differing extents. The images initially appear to be abstract and geometrical. but in fact rely on a systematic concept that can be used to decipher the individual letters. Specimen representations of the alphabet:

By combining the letters to words and acronyms, Tobias Rehberger almost literally underscores the legibility of art. The oil paintings he assembles from them form entire words, such as "YES" and "NO" (both made in 2024) as well as acronyms such as the expressions "IDK (I don’t know)", "OOO (Out of Office)" or "ASL (Age, Sex, Location)" (both made in 2025), which are primarily used in digital chats. Often, Rehberger takes people and their needs, habits, and relationships as his starting point.

The series of (vase) sculptures made of glass, fired clay, and artificial resin dates back to his continuous series of vase portraits which he started in 1995 and which depict friends, acquaintances, and collector families. He creates vases whose design he defines as the equivalent of the persons represented and asks the persons portrayed to complete the individual piece by contributing their favorite - without their knowing the design he has come up with. Unlike this series, that of the (mother) sculptures on show stands on its own with or without flowers in the them.

Tobias Rehberger (born 1966 in Esslingen) has been Professor of Sculpting at the Städelschule Frankfurt since 2001. In 2009, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for his café design "Was du liebst, bringt dich auch zum Weinen" (What you love also makes you cry). Alongside major solo exhibitions at international institutions, his 24 Stops in the public realm have since 2016 connected the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen to the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. He lives and works in Frankfurt/Main.

Words: Katharina Baumecker
Translation: Dr. Jeremy Gaines