CONCEPT
Based on Günter Beier's painting of a bird's nest, a tree takes center stage as the bearer of life. Nest, bird, blossom, and fruit represent a cycle: shelter, movement, growth, and maturity. Four artistic positions unfold a multi-layered image of nature as a living system.
With spring, life visibly returns. Birds nest in trees, finding shelter and food there. Flowers open, fruits ripen and are eaten. This close interdependence shapes the ecological structure - even if it often takes a back seat in everyday human life. Mehr...
POSITIONS
An abandoned bird's nest takes center stage. Painted with precision, branch by branch, its complex construction becomes comprehensible. What appears empty refers to origin and return.
In contrast, stylized birds move in a continuous computer animation across two screens. Reduced to clear contours and flat shapes, liveliness is created with minimal means. At the same time, the movement remains programmed and endlessly repeated—a digital symbol of nature that stands between symbolism and apparent vitality.
Blossoming almond branches unfold in rich colors against an intense sky. Growth appears powerful and resilient.
Shiny cherries, painted here in a close-up view, represent ripeness and abundance. Light reflections give them an almost physical presence. As the fruit of the tree, they are food for birds - here, too, the cycle is complete.
The tree as a whole remains invisible, yet it is present: as a habitat, as an origin, as a provider. Nature appears here not as landscape, but as concentrated detail. Between construction and growth, digital simulation and painterly presence, the “tree of life” unfolds as a contemporary image of the cycle of life.
ARTISTS and WORKS
Günter Beier (*1959, Wuppertal) lives and works at Lake Constance. His realistic paintings examine structures that are often overlooked in everyday life.
Günter Beier, Vogelnest 8, 2008, oil on canvas, 170 x 260 cm
Katharina Gierlach (*1983, Würzburg) lives and works in Cologne. Her paintings focus on plants and their resilience.
Katharina Gierlach, Mandelblüte, 2025, oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm
Katharina Gierlach, Mandelblüte II, 2025, oil on canvas, 70 x 55 cm
Julian Opie (*1958, London) lives and works in London. With his clear pictorial language, he transforms classic motifs into a contemporary, digital visual world.
Julian Opie, Crow pecking & Crow turning, 2018, computer animation on a LCD monitor
Charlotte Trossbach (*1985, Mainz) lives and works in Cologne. Her works condense photographic snapshots into intense still lifes of everyday life.
Charlotte Trossbach, Kirschen III, 2020, oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm
You are cordially invited to an open house at the project space on Sunday, December 7, from 3 to 6 p.m. The artist will be present.
From December 6, 2025, to February 22, 2026, the DavisKlemmGallery will present a new spatial installation at its project space in Hochheim that broadens our view of our possible future. For Project #22, artist malatsion combines her fluorescent, plant-like silicone objects floating in water with furniture to create a futuristic living room. The installation poses fundamental questions: How will we live in the future? What future does nature have? Will plants only be able to exist in artificially created habitats? Or will we create new species that provide nutrition, climate control, and lighting all at once?
The installation with black light is illuminated daily at the following times: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mehr...
THE ARTIST
malatsion (*1974) comes from Saint-Tropez, France. She studied archaeology, art history, and fine arts in France—fields of study that are reflected in her work. She has been living and working in Frankfurt am Main since 2004. Her works are regularly exhibited internationally. Her work has been recognized and supported by numerous scholarships. Until January 30, 2026, her works will be presented at the Regional Finance Office in Frankfurt in the exhibition “The Dynamics of Becoming.”
MATERIAL AND PRODUCTION
Using silicone and pigments, malatsion has created new “creatures” that appear to live in a liquid and populate their future habitat. The artist has added fluorescent agents to give the elements their futuristic glow. Artificial plants and animals that not only provide food and atmosphere, but also serve as night lighting for humans—is this the future? Actually, this glow is already present: there are fungi, fireflies, fish, and jellyfish in nature that possess the property of bioluminescence and produce their own light.
The artist's organic works are created in a process reminiscent of precise laboratory work. She develops multi-layered forms whose color, transparency, and texture are carefully tested so that they appear to have grown naturally while also radiating something futuristic.
And what would a living space be without furniture? For Project #22, malatsion has chosen a true design classic: the “Bubble Chair.” Designed in 1968 by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio (born in Helsinki in 1932), this chair, among others, shaped the style of the “space age” of the 1960s. The futuristic-looking chair encapsulates the sitter with its round shape, creating a new small space—or, to use the chair's title, a bubble of its own. At the same time, the transparent material ensures a clear view. Like an astronaut, you sit/float weightlessly in space.
THE INSTALLATION
A glimpse into the future: How will we live? What will we eat? What will our environment look like? malatsion's room installation provides futuristic food for thought. The artist questions our relationship with nature and the “natural.” Will plants perhaps only exist in artificial, man-made environments, as they will no longer be able to survive elsewhere due to climate change? Or will humans create new plant species that are edible, look good, and at the same time compensate for air pollution and temperature fluctuations? Perhaps they could even serve as lighting and replace electricity-intensive street or park lamps. Or are they more like pets that counteract growing loneliness?
Even today, what we perceive as “nature” is often man-made—from wine culture to nature reserves to river restoration. Here, nature exists “by the grace of humans.” malatsion's installation invites us to think further about these visions of the future—and to ask what kind of nature we as a society actually want.
AUDIO
The installation includes an audio track containing a whispered poem: “Manifesto of Endocrine Disruptors.” The whispering adds an eerie, threatening note to the installation. The manifesto is written from the perspective of “endocrine disruptors,” also known as xeno- or environmental hormones. These are chemical, hormone-active substances that can disrupt and damage the human endocrine system. They are mainly found in synthetically manufactured products, e.g., in pesticides, plastics, and solvents. With this poem, malatsion refers to another level at which human influence is already irreversibly changing the environment.
THE SPACE
The 20 m² room, in which pens and exercise books were previously sold, is now available to artists from the DavisKlemmGallery as a project space. Instead of regular but limited opening times, the room can be viewed at any time: A large window front makes every project visible. Changing projects, installations, works of art and artists can be discovered here. The current presentation will be on view until February 22nd, 2026.
The installation with black light is illuminated daily at the following times: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A big thank you to Doris Schoch and Mathias Krusius from the interior design company “Lilasteckenpferd” in Mainz-Gonsenheim for lending us the “Bubble Chair” and the glass serving trolley.
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