Aesthetics of the invisible @ Kolumba

A visit to the exhibition at Kolumba has always been a challenge to the regular frame of mind.  Since I arrived at Köln yesterday in the afternoon, I must admit that my time (just over 1.5 hours) was a bit tight to acquire my best experience at Kolumba.  Their current exhibition is titled Zeigen Verhüllen Verbergen. Schrein: Eine Ausstellung Zur Ästhetik Des Unsichtbaren (Show Cover Hide. Shrine: An Exhibition On The Aesthetics Of The Invisible) including ...

Max Cole:

Raimund Girke:

Hermann Abrell:

Thomas Böing:

Michael Toenges:

Frederic Thursz:

Of course, the extraordinary spaces created by Peter Zumthor in 2007 are part of the unique experience:

Kolumba

On my way back to Frankfurt, I decided to stop at Köln for a few hours to visit a couple of places.  Right by the hauptbahnhof, Museum Ludwig of course is a must-see.  But Peter Zumthor's 2007 Kolumba, which is not much farther, is the main focus of my Köln stopover this time.  Originally founded in 1853, Kolumba is an art museum run by the archdiocese Erzbistums Köln.  Zumthor's building was cleverly erected upon and around the Gothic ruins of St. Kolumba and an archaeological excavation site.

Kolumba is said to be a museum of contemplation.  Its art collection, ranging from late antiquity to contemporary, encourages a dialogue between past and present.

Josef Wolf:

Richard Serra:

 Leiko Ikemura:

Werner Schriefers:

Attila Kovács:

Dieter Krieg:

Victoria Bell:

Bernhard Leitner:

Hortus conclusus

London's Serpentine Gallery has its temporary summer pavilion every year designed by an internationally acclaimed architect who has never completed a building in England at the time of the gallery’s invitation.  The designer for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion this year is Peter Zumthor from Switzerland.  The concept for Zumthor's design is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden.  Zumthor played with the effect of light by allowing visitors to experience the dramatic contrast between light and darkness on entering this enclosed space.  The dark, solid and bland exterior gives no hints of the lush, contemplative garden oasis inside.