Thaddaeus Ropac has announced the representation of the Hans Josephsohn Estate in collaboration with Kesselhaus Josephsohn, an archive and exhibition space dedicated to the Swiss sculptor from St. Gallen. The gallery will collaborate with Galerie Max Hetzler, Skarstedt Gallery and Karma International to promote Josephsohn’s work. A solo exhibition is planned in July 2024 in Salzburg, and a retrospective curated by the artist Albert Oehlen in October 2024 at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris.
Josephsohn, who died in 2012, is celebrated for a six-decade career that reshaped the landscape of contemporary sculpture. His work reimagined the possibilities of figurative sculpture, often meditating on the human form. From his first stele reliefs to sculptures that only vaguely refer to the human figure, the Swiss sculptor’s work explores the essence of human presence using materials such as brass, copper and cement.
“Hans Josephsohn is one of the most overlooked sculptors of the 20th century,” said gallery founder Thaddaeus Ropac. “He is deeply rooted in the tradition of European sculpture, but he was never part of an artist movement, which allowed him to develop a completely independent vision.”
Josephsohn’s most important solo exhibitions include shows at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany in 2018; Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield, England in 2013; MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt (Germany) in 2008; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 2002. In 2012, his sculptures were compared to the work of Alberto Giacometti at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
