Thomas Kesseler, Düsseldorf
Characteristic of the unusual works of Düsseldorf architect and artist Thomas Kesseler is the interplay of color and space, of painting and architecture. Through the painterly dimension as well as through his rigorous architectonic forms, Kesseler transforms space into the principal component of his work.
Kesseler has become known in particular through his color scheme design for the 2004 conversion of the “Zeche Nordstern,” a former mine, into the main office of the THS in Gelsenkirchen, as well as through the redesign of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Bottrop, realized between 1998 and 2000.
Since the late 1990s, this architect and artist has displayed a predilection for glass as a translucent image bearer. Autonomous images stand alongside works from the architectural context. In response to the preeminence of glass in Modernist architecture, Kesseler explores new techniques and design possibilities. We also find oversized monochrome murals and architecturally conceived paintings that envelop viewers in the spirit of the Baroque.
On display at the architecture forum Aedes West are works on canvas in startlingly luminous colors that range in size from smaller formats to room height, as well as glass paintings and architectural models and drawings. Among the selected projects are in the law offices of Schmitz und Partner in Essen (2002), the Zeche Nordstern (2004), the Nikolaus Groß Chapel in Essen Cathedral (2004), and more recent projects such as the conversion of the Church of St. Catherine in Unna and a studio-house ensemble, a project for Museum Hombroich Island, the former NATO missile base.
Thomas Kesseler’s works are represented in numerous collections and museums. Last year, the Zeche Nordstern project, realized in collaboration with the architects Feldmeier and Wrede from Hagen and the THS, came in second place for the German Prize for Architecture, and also received a distinction for exemplary buildings from the federal state of North Rhine- Westphalia.
Thomas Kesseler (*1956), “Meisterschüler” at Düsseldorf’s Art Academy, studies with Prof. Erwin Heerich, architectural studies at the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts with Prof. Hans Hollein, later with Prof Ernst Kasper and James Stirling again in Düsseldorf. Kesseler holds a professorship for color and space at the Fachhochschule in Detmold, which is well-known for interior design.
Speaking at the opening will be
Kristin Feireiss Berlin
Baldur Hermanns Essen
We would like to thank the following sponsors
for their friendly support of the exhibitions...
Abet Laminati | Herford
Elke Bauer - Gernt | Düsseldorf
Bauwens | Köln
BEEK`sche FARBWERKE | Ruthelen Engelbrecht
Domkapitel, Münsterkirche | Essen
Brillux | Münster
Derix Glasmalerei | Kevelaer
Dinnebier - Licht - GmbH | Wuppertal
es Ermert Schäfer GbR | Düsseldorf
katholische Kirchengemeinde St. Katharina | Unna
Herbert Fendrich | Bistum Essen
PSAD Architekten Feldmeier · Wrede | Hagen
Dr. Baldur Hermans | Essen
Kremer Pigmente | Eichstätten
Schmitz + Partner | Essen
VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken GMbH & Co | Tauberbischofsheim
Dr. Brigitte Zimmermann | Essen
Diese Ausstellung wurde ermöglicht mit der großzügigen Unterstützung von:
