Leopold Kessler

A large proportion of Leopold Kessler’s work revolves around public space and the exploration of the topography of cities, from the traffic lights that structure urban life to the way in which these influence codes of conduct in the city.  The artist finds the raw material to develop his pieces and interventions in squares, roads and road signs. Although sometimes highly visible, at other times his pieces are minimal interventions in the public space. In his work he has focused particularly on underlining the cracks to be found in the systematic organisation of social space.

In the show on display at CA2M, co-produced with Malmö Konsthall, Leopold Kessler presents a selection of his videos, sculptures, photographs and objects used for various actions conducted between 2005 and 2008. The show also features a new video piece entitled Neighbours and two interventions in the public space to take place in the town of Móstoles.

The intentions behind his pieces are often hidden, camouflaged and convoluted in the eyes of the spectator, while the scope of his proposals encompasses social interaction and the analysis of the idea of service, in both public and private spaces. Although Leopold Kessler’s work has links with land art, his creations bear a greater resemblance to small, minimal urban art in which both the compositional lines and the artist’s presence are relegated to the background, hidden, waiting to be discovered by the seasoned spectator.