About the Work
That is not a curtain. As we enter Thomas Demand's site-specific installation 'Hall', we immediately think of René Magritte's painted pipe, which was not allowed to be a pipe although it looked exactly like one and nothing else. This artwork literally fills both the walls and the room and surrounds the viewer with a magnificent curtain which shimmers like velvet. However, the illusion of heavy brocade is suddenly dispelled as we approach and examine the two-dimensional mural at close quarters. What we see is the reproduction of a paper model which was erected in the artist's studio, photographed and then printed onto the fabric wall covering. The historic Metzler Hall is presented through Demand's work in an aesthetic version which transforms it into an obvious connection between tradition and the present day.
