Press Preview 09.05.25 Temporary Gallery, © Caroline Steffen

Last week we had the opportunity to attend the press preview of Embracing the Fold at the Temporary Gallery – a compelling exhibition that brings together the distinct yet deeply connected practices of Kinke Kooi and Roland Schimmel.

Though their artistic languages differ significantly, Kinke Kooi and Roland Schimmel have lived and worked together for nearly four decades. While their works have been exhibited together in group exhibitions before, Embracing the Fold marks the first time they are presented in such close spatial and conceptual proximity. Kooi’s delicate, multilayered drawings explore themes of the body, care, and ornament, using softness as a means of resistance and intimacy. Schimmel’s immersive abstract paintings, by contrast, investigate visual perception, using gradients, afterimages, and spatial rhythms to create environments that engage both eye and mind with striking clarity and precision. Together, their practices chart a rich terrain between vulnerability and perception, the sensual and the cerebral.

What stood out beside those deeply inspiring artistic positions was the thoughtful spatial design, which not only responds to the artworks but actively engages with them. Designed by artist Astrid Kajsa Nylander and the interior architect Pål Rodenius, the exhibition space unfolds in three distinct zones: a womb-like, softly enclosed area for Kooi’s intimate, ornamental works; a completely white room for Schimmel’s abstract compositions, whose carpeted floor transforms the typical white cube into a surprisingly soft and contemplative space; and a transitional zone scaled to a child’s perspective, playfully merging both artistic worlds.

In each of these spaces, a custom furniture installation invites visitors to pause and engage. The seating elements are designed in a way that leaves open how they are used—whether one chooses to sit alone or is gently encouraged, through the shape and placement of the benches, to enter into dialogue with others.

Curator Lisa Klosterkötter’s involvement is deeply felt throughout the exhibition. She visited the artists in their home and studio – an approach that clearly informs the curatorial concept. Her close, thoughtful engagement with their environments and practices lends the exhibition a strong sense of intimacy, care, and connection.

Photos + Text: Caroline Steffen