At Café Bravo in Berlin’s renowned KW art space, Therme Art formally announced its latest major artwork commission: an immersive water-based sculpture by acclaimed Icelandic multimedia artist and 57th Venice Biennale participant Egill Sæbjörnsson.

Egill Sæbjörnsson, The Mother (digital drawing, 2019)

The artwork, entitled The Mother, will play a central role in the Therme’s hugely popular Bucharest site.

Featuring projected video animation throughout its interior, the twelve-meter, dome-shaped installation will be a multi-sensory spectacle of water, sound and video, exploring the symbiotic relationship between man and nature.

Accessed through a series of bridges and a lagoon-like passage, The Mother will emerge from the centre of a large outdoor lake at the rear of the Bucharest facility. Once inside the main chamber, guests will experience and interact with a central piazza-style fountain featuring self-generative digital water projections.

Drawing inspiration from ancient public baths and traditional Romanian churches, the installation will feature grand high ceilings and a cascade of steps organically integrated into its curved edges, where guests can contemplate and reflect.

Therme Art celebrated this special occasion with an artist panel and reception at Café Bravo in Berlin’s KW Institute of Contemporary Art. Sæbjörnsson was joined on a panel discussion by Therme Art’s Curator Mikolaj Sekutowicz and renowned art auctioneer Simon de Pury. Elaborating on his collaboration with Therme Group, Sæbjörnsson said:

“When cities were new, they were the exception to nature, but now nature is an exception to cities as more people live in cities than on the countryside. And cities are built in a simplistic manner…but that doesn’t reflect who we are. We were created by nature over a long time and our inner life reflects nature. So, we need complex and lively environments. I aim to make adventurous spaces, echoing the scale of the human body and containing elements of play and interactivity.”

Berlin-based Sæbjörnsson is interested in the connection between mental and physical reality and is best known for his video installations and performance-based work. He was nominated for a Carnegie Art Award in 2010 and, as well as representing Iceland at the 2017 Venice Biennale, has participated in exhibitions and events at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Künstlerhaus Bremen, Frankfurter Kunstverein, The Watermill Center New York, König Berlin, and the Reykjavik Art Museum.

The exciting commission of The Mother demonstrates Therme Art’s support of the Berlin art community, and its commitment to artworks that cannot be realised within the traditional gallery sphere.

The Mother Art Commission

Egill Sæbjörnsson, The Mother (digital drawing, 2019)

Egill Sæbjörnsson, The Mother (digital drawing, 2019)

Egill Sæbjörnsson, The Mother (digital drawing, 2019)

Therme Forum: Mother’s Day

Therme Forum: Mother’s Day

Egill Sæbjörnsson, Therme Forum: Mother’s Day

Simon de Pury, Therme Forum: Mother’s Day