Shannon Bool Meets Otto Eckmann – Everything Created Now Is the Style of Our Times

The encounter between Shannon Bool (b. 1972) and Otto Eckmann (1865–1902) gives rise to an artistic dialogue spanning a century. The graphic artist, painter and typographer Otto Eckmann was one of the leading designers of Jugendstil and a champion of the reform movement in Germany. With his efforts to unite art and the design of everyday life, Eckmann became a central protagonist in the founding years of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum around 1900. After his early death in 1902, part of his estate – some 250 works in all – came to the museum.

In her works, the Canadian artist Shannon Bool collages motifs from everyday culture, fashion design and architecture. For Collection Satellite #8, she took up the challenge of developing new works in response to Eckmann. For the exhibition she created a kind of interior in three parts: a large-format Jacquard tapestry, a marble bench and two glass lamps modelled on old gas lanterns. Bool’s approach to Eckmann mixes playful and private elements with political ones, craftsmanship with digital production techniques, translating Eckmann’s works into a contemporary visual language.

Since 2018, the Kunstmuseen Krefeld have used the Collection Satellites series to invite artists from various disciplines to engage with the collection, the history of the museum and its architecture – again and again opening up surprising perspectives on the museum and its history.

With a text by Estelle Hoy and a conversation between Shannon Bool and Magdalena Holzhey.