Katinka Bock meets Nick Mauss at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich

Katinka Bock + Nick Mauss at Espace Louis Vuitton
*The Architecture of Resonance

written Alban E. Smajli

Espace Louis Vuitton München unveils RESONANCE, an incisive convergence of Katinka Bock's material meditations and Nick Mauss’s enigmatic visual narratives.

The exhibition crystallizes Fondation Louis Vuitton's ongoing mission of recontextualizing its collection, extending beyond its Paris epicenter into global territory. Katinka Bock shapes vulnerability into strength. Her sculptures, raw and exacting, manipulate elemental materials—clay, paper, stone, metal—each piece a quiet interrogation of balance and impermanence. The deliberate exposure of her work to natural processes results in forms saturated with the unpredictability of experience, echoing the human condition's nuanced complexities.

KATINKA BOCK
A AND I, 2013
Eiche, Bronze, Keramik, Stahl/Oak, bronze, ceramics, steel
180 x 55 x 80 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton
Photo (c) Primae / Louis Bourjac

NICK MAUSS
DOUBLE MOTIF, 2016
9 Tafeln mit Hinterglasmalerei, Farbe/9 mirror panels, paint
221 x 160 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton
Photo (c) Primae / Marc Domage

Nick Mauss articulates ambiguity. His practice dissolves distinctions between drawing, sculpture, performance, and text, producing works that are fragmented, ephemeral, and hauntingly precise. Layered transparencies, mirrored reflections, and delicate lines converge into compositions that resist static interpretation, continuously evolving as viewers interact with their spatial reality.

RESONANCE is a deliberate act of curation—two artists, distinct yet inherently aligned, exploring histories embedded in material and memory. Bock’s sculptures embody temporalities; each crack or fold a record of interaction between artist, environment, and time. Mauss reconfigures histories through intricate gestures, archival echoes transformed into immersive realities. The exhibition reframes historical narratives, stripping them from fixed contexts, releasing their latent energies into the gallery's architecture.

Experimental methodology defines RESONANCE. Bock’s materials—humble, potent, unpredictable—are elevated through her meticulous manipulation, becoming potent symbols of transformation and endurance. Mauss, meanwhile, perpetually reinvents his creative language, effortlessly transitioning between forms, mediums, and references, crafting immersive encounters that envelope viewers in reflective possibility.

The spatial dynamics of Espace Louis Vuitton München are integral to RESONANCE. Both Bock and Mauss actively harness and reshape architectural space, inviting their visitors into a choreography of movement and contemplation. The gallery becomes a resonant chamber, an activated stage for engagement, intimacy, and reflection.

KATINKA BOCK
ZARBA LONSA, POMPEI, 2015
Keramik, Stahl, Eisen/Ceramics, steel, iron
85 x 70 x 100 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton

Fundamental to RESONANCE is Fondation Louis Vuitton’s commitment to disrupting the boundaries of contemporary art's accessibility. The exhibition is emblematic of the Foundation’s ethos—architecturally expressed through Frank Gehry’s iconic Paris structure and conceptually through global "Hors-les-murs" interventions. It underscores art's radical potential as a participatory and democratic force.

RESONANCE offers viewers an encounter with complexity distilled into form, materials eloquent in their silence, histories refracted through contemporary sensibilities. It is a provocation, an insistence on the vitality of dialogue within and beyond artistic boundaries.

RESONANCE runs from March 21 to September 6, 2025, at Espace Louis Vuitton München. Entry is open and complimentary.

(c) Katinka Bock & Nick Mauss
Espace Louis Vuitton Munich, 2025

KATINKA BOCK
ALASKA, 2014
Keramik, Holz, Stahl/Ceramics, wood, steel
426 x 198 x 142 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton
Photo (c) Primae / Louis Bourjac

KATINKA BOCK
HORIZONT MIT LOT UND ZITRONE, 2011
Stahlstange, Filz, Holz, Plastikball, Zitrone, Stahldraht, Sand/Steel bar, felt, wood, plastic ball, lemon, steel wire, sand
250 x 600 x 10 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton
Photo (c) Primae / Claude Germain

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NICK MAUSS, PROCESSION, 2017

15 Tafeln mit Hinterglasmalerei, verspiegelt / 15 panels with reverse glass painting, mirrored
159 x 365 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Fondation Louis Vuitton
Photo credits: (c) Primae / Marc Domage

Gregory Crewdson at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich, Cathedral of the Pines

Gregory Crewdson at Espace Louis Vuitton
*Dreamscapes of a Haunted America

written Monica de Luna

Gregory Crewdson’s photographs are a punch to the gut, and the latest exhibit at Espace Louis Vuitton München doesn’t hold back.

As part of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s bold Hors-les-murs program, Crewdson’s series Dream House (2002) and Cathedral of the Pines (2014) are unleashed upon the Munich audience, exposing the fractures beneath the pristine surface of middle-class America. The exhibition pulls you into a world where the familiar dissolves into the surreal, where dreams blur into nightmares, and where small-town life becomes a stage for unsettling cinematic narratives.

(c) Gregory Crewdson, Cathedral of the Pines
at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich

(c) Gregory Crewdson, Cathedral of the Pines
at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich

Crewdson doesn’t just photograph—he directs. His large-scale works, meticulously staged like movie stills, turn ordinary scenes into eerie tableaus. The deserted streets, the muted lighting, the frozen moments—they all draw from the visual lexicon of film noir and psychological thrillers, leaving you hanging in the quiet dread of what might come next. The characters are caught in the eye of a storm you can’t see, their stillness heavy with a tension that won’t break.

This latest showcase at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich goes deeper into that dissonance. Dream House is a series that pulls back the curtains on domestic spaces, revealing the lurking darkness that fills the cracks of suburban life. Crewdson’s use of twilight and nighttime settings floods each photograph with the same unease you get from waking up in a dream you can’t shake. Cathedral of the Pines, on the other hand, feels more intimate, more introspective. Shot in the forests of rural Massachusetts, these images are quieter, more meditative—yet no less haunting. You feel the weight of isolation, of lives lived on the fringes, of nature encroaching on the fragile constructs of human existence.

What sets Gregory Crewdson apart is the way he plays with time. In his world, nothing moves. There’s no before, no after—just the moment. This cinematic suspension freezes the characters and the viewer, locking you in an unresolved narrative. That sense of unsettling calm, of a story half-told, is why his work lingers long after you’ve left the gallery. Every photograph is a secret waiting to be uncovered, but Crewdson isn’t offering answers. He’s here for the mystery!

In Cathedral of the Pines, the mystery becomes more personal. The forested backdrop and the desolate interiors of small-town homes mirror Crewdson’s own journey—of dislocation, personal reflection, and a return to the woods of his youth. This series marks a shift, a softer but more emotionally charged tone that contrasts the colder precision of Dream House. Here, the silence is almost deafening, but it’s the kind that invites you to listen closely—to the rustling leaves, the creaking floorboards, and the whisper of unsaid thoughts.

(c) Gregory Crewdson, Dream House
at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich

There’s no escaping the comparison to David Lynch. Like Lynch, Crewdson captures the dark underbelly of the American dream. Both artists are fascinated with what lies beneath the surface of manicured lawns and polite smiles. In Crewdson’s world, the perfect façade is just that—a cover for something far more disturbing. It’s no accident that his images feel like stills from a movie that could sit comfortably between Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks. The suburban dread, the unease in the everyday—Crewdson’s lens finds the uncanny in what most would overlook.

And yet, despite the cinematic scale of his work, there’s something deeply personal about Crewdson’s exploration of these themes. Whether through the stark portrayal of loneliness in Cathedral of the Pines or the visual claustrophobia of Dream House, there’s a sense that Crewdson is constantly searching for a way out—of both the frame and himself.

His images require you to stop, stare, and confront the unease that rises from the edges of the frame. They are moments from a story you’ll never fully understand, but one you won’t be able to forget.

(c) Gregory Crewdson
Espace Louis Vuitton Munich, 2024

(c) Gregory Crewdson, Dream House
at Espace Louis Vuitton Munich