Working in a digital age, Maarten Sleeuwits (* 1978 in Enschede) is concerned with reawakening the view er's sense of touch. Through art objects made of lead, clay, or bamboo, he allows the viewer to physically grasp the specific qualities of the material. For exam ple, Zero, a cube of twenty-four-karat gold enveloped in technical ceramic, can be almost magically re shaped by the gentle pressure of the fingers. The work 7 Grams of Traces of the City by Belo Horizonte literally contains elements of this Brazilian city. The artist took a long roll of white paper, and starting from the exhibition space, he rolled it out across side walks and streets, subsequently spooling it back up; its meandering surface picked up the dust and dirt of the city. Such traces of contact, either with an urban space or people participating in the project, form the essential core of each of Sleeuwits's works. Exhibition: Kunsthalle Erfurt 9.5.-29.6.2014

Text by: Silke Opitz