Enrico David, untitled 2022. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Billal Taright
The exhibition Destroyed Men Come and Go by Enrico David (b.1966, IT) at KW Institute for Contemporary Art will mark David’s first institutional solo exhibition in Germany and will be devoted solely to his sculptural practice.
David works with sculpture, painting, textiles, and installation, while drawing is also central to his exploration of form. Mining a space between figuration and abstraction, he consistently returns to the body as a point of departure, exploring the human figure as a metaphor for transformation. Conveying the struggle of adaptation of the self and the image, Enrico David’s sculptures critically elaborate on the body’s autonomy through its different stages of non-being and becoming.
In KW’s main hall and on the ground floor, the sculptures will be exhibited in a spatial arrangement without walls, touching upon the concept of nothingness, and setting the scene for a silent non-space; a time without a present, a space of waiting and suspense. Having fallen out of being and caught in a constant mode of performative transformation, the artists anthropomorphic sculptures are punctual confrontations between themselves and their onlooker, caught in a struggle to appear as absolutes.
Curator: Krist Gruijthuijsen
Assistant Curator: Sofie Krogh Christensen
KW Studio about Enrico David with Krist Gruijthuijsen and Sofie Krogh Christensen. Production: LOCOLOR, Realisation & Producer: Vincent Schaack, Kamera: Vincent Schaack, Adrian Nehm, Alejandro Mancera, Editing & Color Grading: Lia Valero
Enrico David in conversation at KW, Camera & Editing: Frank Sperling
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
Installation view of the exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; Photo: Frank Sperling. Courtesy the artist and Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London.
The exhibition Enrico David – Destroyed Men Come and Go is generously supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and KW Freunde.
With special thanks to Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London