Bernd Lohaus Untitled, 2002 Cardboard, wax 19 x 50 x 29 cm Central to German-Belgian artist Bernd Lohaus' (1940-2010) oeuvre is the materiality of his works. His interventions are mostly reduced, and the material articulates itself through its specific quality and was often used in its originally discovered form. Bernd Lohaus' drawings, aquarelles, the early works made of ropes, sculptures made of massive wood, wax objects, and cast-sculptures give evidence of the artist’s minimal approach, but at the same time have a powerful poetic strength. For the body of works made of cardboard and wax, Bernd Lohaus draws on forms of everyday objects such as fruit crates, small chests stacked on top of each other, or opened boxes. He treats the cardboard with black wax, so that the surface receives a strong painterly character. The resulting objects are both works in their own rights, as well as templates for bronze casts. After an education as carver and stonemason, Bernd Lohaus studied from 1963-1966 at the Dusseldorf Academy under Joseph Beuys. In 1965 he had his first solo exhibition “El Nacimento del Huevo” in Madrid. In 1966 he founded together with his wife Anny de Decker the gallery “Wide White Space” in Antwerp, in which amongst others Marcel Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, and Joseph Beuys, as well as colleagues from the Dusseldorf Academy, such as Gotthard Gaubner, Gerhard Richter, Reiner Ruthenbeck, and Blinky Palermo exhibited. The gallery existed until 1976. In 1992 Lohaus participated at Documenta IX. His monumental sculptures can be visited in the public space, for example ”Bernd’s terrace” in Antwerp, and are represented in numerous collections. In 2005 his works were on show at S.M.A.K in Ghent and in 2013 the Musée des Arts Contemporains in Hornu, Belgium dedicated him a large solo show. In 2015 the MUHKA in Antwerp acknowledges the oeuvre of Bernd Lohaus in a considerable solo show.
