14/09/2025 – 26/10/2025,

Layers in Complexity

, NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein

Layers in Complexity_ at the NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein from 14 September to 26 October 2025 shows current works by the artists Julie Batteux, Yaël Kempf, David Reiber Otálora and Simon Wienk-Borgert, which were created during their one-year scholarship period (2024/2025) at the residency in Münster. The exhibition is curated by Lara Bader and Marlene Kurz, who are curators of the programme from April to September 2025.

The title Layers in Complexity is an invitation by the two curators to explore the exhibited works through the idea of layers. Layering thrives on the plurality of individual elements and their relationships to one another – a quality evident not only within the individual works, but also in the nature of the fellowship programme. In the works, which range from figurative paintings, photographs, installations, sculptures and collages to video, layering emerges as conceptual, material, temporal and content-related strategies. Reflecting on layering can reveal the complexity of the works, their processes of creation as well as thematic intersections.

The artists explore material layers – such as layers of posters in the sculptures of Yaël Kempf, glazed layers of paint in the works of Julie Batteux, and paper collages by David Reiber Otálora – to layers of different logics in the works of Simon Wienk-Borgert. Engaging with multiple metaphorical layers through their motifs, the works open up complex art-historical references, personal memories, and connections between material, spaces and time, both within each work and in dialog with one another.