With its retrospective, the Kunstmuseum Ahlen presented the first major solo exhibition of the English artist Adam Barker-Mill in Germany. The exhibition offered an insight into the work of an artist who has dedicated himself to light art since the 1960s. The selection of over 40 light objects and large installations included works from the previous 30 years.
Barker-Mill's outdoor sculpture Colour Cube, designed especially for Ahlen, was inaugurated on the edge of the museum square at the start of the exhibition. As a permanent installation, this work of light art extends Ahlen's contribution to the Hellweg light art region - a light path that is unique in Europe. Adam Barker-Mill's light art is characterized by formal austerity, which takes a back seat to the almost magical unfolding of the coloured light. This experience is heightened in the walk-in light rooms, two of which the Kunstmuseum Ahlen presented in its exhibition. The conceptual stringency and formal clarity also place Adam Barker-Mill's work in the tradition of constructivist and minimalist tendencies in 20th century art. However, the artist himself undermines the strictness in an inimitable way by countering the high-tech appeal and sober aura of electrified minimalism with anarchic humor and using decidedly everyday and “non-artistic” materials.
The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Ahlen was created in cooperation with Bartha Contemporary, London.
