Reinhard Mucha: Island of the Blessed, 2016 – 2024 / Luhring Augustine, Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Sprüth Magers, Lia Rumma at Art Basel 2024 Unlimited.
Official description: Island of the Blessed is the ironic title of this installation conceived in 2016 by Reinhard Mucha for his show ‘Schneller werden ohne Zeitverlust’ at Lia Rumma Gallery in Milan. Referring to Salvatore Settis’s influential book If Venice Dies, Mucha reflects on the degradation of historical urban landscapes: ‘Milan’s metamorphosis into an American-style downtown, where the urban center becomes instantly recognizable by virtue of a cluster of skyscrapers – like in Los Angeles – is not the belated triumph of modernity, but merely a façade.’ The installation delves into the role of memory, offering profound reflections examining our urban reality. Central to this monumental, poetic work is the ambient sound of aircraft taking off over the sea of houses (of Milan) symbolized by the waves of 5,000 Mediterranean roof tiles.

Reinhard Mucha (born 1950 in Düsseldorf) uses the ground zero of sculpture after Minimalism as a conceptual springboard in creating works that incorporate industrial materials, photography, time-based media, and found objects – exposing the sediments of time and lived history that have accumulated within them. Mucha lives and works in Düsseldorf.

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