Through the exhibition Tor, German sculptor Jens Trimpin proposes an experience of radical abstraction, in which seemingly austere geometric forms become instruments of perception and reflection. Carved in stone and marked by an almost ascetic precision, his works question stability, symmetry, and immobility, inviting the viewer into a subtle dialogue with space and matter.

“With the exhibition Tor by German artist Jens Trimpin, the MNAC is further expanding its research on the role played by abstract art in the general paradigm of today’s visual culture. Trimpin, a sculptor and draughtsman from the ‘70s generation, is a canonic exponent of what Călin Dan, the exhibition’s curator, labels as “radical abstraction”. Jens Trimpin’s stone sculptures appear to revive the minimalist aesthetics of pure geometry and impersonal outcome. But historical minimalism itself has plenty of situations when sensory disruptions were disturbing the orthodoxy of the formula.

In the case of Jens Trimpin, every work is, in fact, a trap for the eye, as each geometric form is undermined by subtle interventions. Asymmetries are deceptive, perfectly flat and carefully finished surfaces are actually bent, straight edges are softened—the motionless stones may unexpectedly begin to spin around their own axes. In order to perceive these Socratic challenges, one has to breathe in the thin air of speculation about the purity of space, and enter the trance of a subtle, modest, yet also intense spiritual journey.” (excerpt from the curatorial text)

The exhibition, curated by Călin Dan, can be visited on the fourth floor of the museum, until March 29.