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Wolfgang Laib - Exhibitions - Sperone Westwater

Wolfgang Laib Studio, 2025 

Tao does not act
       yet it is the root of all action
Tao does not move
       yet it is the source of all creation

If princes and kings could hold it
       everyone under them would naturally turn within
Should a doubt or old desire rise up
       The nameless Simplicity would push it down
The Nameless Simplicity frees the heart of desire
       And reveals its inner silence

When there is silence
       one finds peace
When there is silence
       One finds the anchor of the universe within himself

—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Verse 37 (6th c. BCE)

Sperone Westwater is pleased to announce Towers of Silence, Wolfgang Laib’s ninth solo at the gallery. The main room will feature five monumental beeswax sculptures in the shape of houses, towers and ziggurats reminiscent of Mesopotamian religious step pyramids and Christian reliquary shrines. Laib utilizes simple, organic materials that are often linked to sustenance, such as pollen, milk, beeswax and rice. The beeswax sculptures have been described by poet and art critic Donald Kuspit as representing “the enlightenment, transcendence and selflessness the monk pursues through meditation–the inner solitude necessary for higher consciousness.” Influenced by Eastern cultures, especially Zen Buddhism, Laib’s process is centered on ritual and repetition, a meditation on transformation and the concurrence of the permanent and the transient. “The beeswax has a beauty that is incredible, that is beyond imagination, something which you cannot believe is a reality–and it is the most real,” says Laib. “I could not make it myself, I could not create it myself, but I can participate in it.”

Eight black-and-white photographs of sanctuaries, cemeteries and other sacred ritual spaces will be on view for the first time at Sperone Westwater in the East gallery, offering insights into the landscapes that have been influential in the artist’s work. Upstairs will be six new works on Burmese and Hahnemuehle paper reprising recurring motifs from the artist’s poetic and highly symbolic oeuvre. These works on paper, created in response to the sculptures, reveal the Laib’s meditative and conceptual approach.

Born in 1950 in Metzingen, Germany, Wolfgang Laib originally studied medicine but became disillusioned with Western medicine and its dependency on logic and the material world. Since 1975, Laib has worked exclusively as an artist and has built an international reputation. Laib’s 2000-2003 retrospective, organized by the American Federation of the Arts, traveled to the Hirshhorn Museum; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Dallas Museum of Art; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and Haus der Kunst, Munich. Subsequently, Laib presented museum solo exhibitions at the Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2004); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2005-2006); MUAC (Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo), Mexico City (2009); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (2009-2010); and MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2010). In 2013, Laib’s Pollen from Hazelnut was on view at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Laib Wax Room at The Phillips Collection opened in March of the same year. In 2015, Laib was awarded the Praemium Imperiale award for sculpture. A major solo exhibition of his work was presented at MASI Lugano in Switzerland in 2017-18. Other recent solo exhibitions include “Wolfgang Laib: Crossing the River” at Bündner Kunstmuseum, Switzerland (2022); “Wolfgang Laib: The Beginning of Something Else” at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2023); “Wolfgang Laib: Passageway” at Villa e Collezione Panza, Varese (2023-24); and “Wolfgang Laib. A Mountain not to climb on. For Monet” at Musée de l’Orangerie (2024). Laib’s work is in private and public collections worldwide, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; CAPC (Musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux); Kunstmuseum Bonn; Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. Laib had his first solo exhibition with Sperone Westwater in 1979 and subsequent shows in 1981, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2013, and 2018. He lives and works between Germany, New York and India.

Installations

Installations Thumbnails
Wall painting with white background, yellow shapes, and taoist poem handwritten
ancient poem from taoist tradition
Gallery view of 5 yellow beeswax towers ranging from 4-7 feet tall
Gallery view of 5 yellow beeswax towers ranging from 4-7 feet tall
4 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a grid
3 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a horizontal line
3 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a horizontal line and 1 black and white photograph on adjacent wall
4 works on paper in various sizes hanging on wall, works on paper are white, beige, and yellow
Wall painting with white background, yellow shapes, and taoist poem handwritten
ancient poem from taoist tradition
Gallery view of 5 yellow beeswax towers ranging from 4-7 feet tall
Gallery view of 5 yellow beeswax towers ranging from 4-7 feet tall
4 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a grid
3 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a horizontal line
3 black and white photographs of sacred ritual spaces in a horizontal line and 1 black and white photograph on adjacent wall
4 works on paper in various sizes hanging on wall, works on paper are white, beige, and yellow

Selected Works1

Selected Works1 Thumbnails
Beeswax tower, yellowish brown hue

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2024
beeswax
86 5/8 x 27 1/2 x 24 3/8 inches (220 x 69,9 x 61,9 cm)

Inquire
Beeswax tower, yellowish brown hue

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2024
beeswax
43 1/8 x 21 1/4 x 11 inches (109,5 x 54 x 27,9 cm)

Inquire
Black and white photograph of stairs built into a large stone formation, light and contrast forms a triangular shape

Wolfgang Laib
Jain Cave near Truvannamalai, South India, 2002
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
21 x 16 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches (53,3 x 42,6 x 3,8 cm) frame
edition 3/4

Inquire
Black and white photograph of window surrounded by triangles in stone building

Wolfgang Laib
Shrine near Pudukottai, South India, 2002
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
15 1/2 x 18 3/4 x 1 5/8 inches (39,4 x 47,6 x 4,1 cm) frame
edition 1/4

Inquire
Black and white photograph of hut-like structure

Wolfgang Laib
Brickworks near Madurai, South India, 2003
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
21 x 16 3/4 x 1 5/8 inches (53,3 x 42,6 x 4,1 cm) frame
edition 3/4

Inquire
Drawing of 3 yellow towers on white paper

Wolfgang Laib
Towers of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Arches paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches (56,5 x 76,5 cm)
23 3/8 x 33 1/4 x 1 5/8 inches (59,4 x 84,5 x 4,1 cm) frame

Inquire
Drawing of 1 yellow tower on beige paper

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Burmese paper
13 3/8 x 8 7/16 inches (34 x 21,4 cm)
16 1/2 x 11 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches (41,9 x 28,3 x 3,8 cm) frame

Inquire
Drawing of 1 white tower with stone-like formations surrounding it on beige paper

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Burmese paper
26 x 34 inches (66 x 86,4 cm)
29 1/4 x 37 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (74,3 x 94,6 x 3,8 cm) frame

Inquire
Drawing of 3 black towers on white paper

Wolfgang Laib
Untitled, 2007
pencil and oil pastel on paper
20 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches (52 x 42 cm)
27 3/8 x 20 1/8 inches (69,5 x 51,1 cm) frame

Inquire
Beeswax tower, yellowish brown hue

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2024
beeswax
86 5/8 x 27 1/2 x 24 3/8 inches (220 x 69,9 x 61,9 cm)

Beeswax tower, yellowish brown hue

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2024
beeswax
43 1/8 x 21 1/4 x 11 inches (109,5 x 54 x 27,9 cm)

Black and white photograph of stairs built into a large stone formation, light and contrast forms a triangular shape

Wolfgang Laib
Jain Cave near Truvannamalai, South India, 2002
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
21 x 16 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches (53,3 x 42,6 x 3,8 cm) frame
edition 3/4

Black and white photograph of window surrounded by triangles in stone building

Wolfgang Laib
Shrine near Pudukottai, South India, 2002
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
15 1/2 x 18 3/4 x 1 5/8 inches (39,4 x 47,6 x 4,1 cm) frame
edition 1/4

Black and white photograph of hut-like structure

Wolfgang Laib
Brickworks near Madurai, South India, 2003
gelatin silver print on baryta paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches (41,3 x 30,5 cm)
21 x 16 3/4 x 1 5/8 inches (53,3 x 42,6 x 4,1 cm) frame
edition 3/4

Drawing of 3 yellow towers on white paper

Wolfgang Laib
Towers of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Arches paper
22 1/4 x 30 1/8 inches (56,5 x 76,5 cm)
23 3/8 x 33 1/4 x 1 5/8 inches (59,4 x 84,5 x 4,1 cm) frame

Drawing of 1 yellow tower on beige paper

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Burmese paper
13 3/8 x 8 7/16 inches (34 x 21,4 cm)
16 1/2 x 11 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches (41,9 x 28,3 x 3,8 cm) frame

Drawing of 1 white tower with stone-like formations surrounding it on beige paper

Wolfgang Laib
Tower of Silence, 2025
pencil and oil pastel on Burmese paper
26 x 34 inches (66 x 86,4 cm)
29 1/4 x 37 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (74,3 x 94,6 x 3,8 cm) frame

Drawing of 3 black towers on white paper

Wolfgang Laib
Untitled, 2007
pencil and oil pastel on paper
20 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches (52 x 42 cm)
27 3/8 x 20 1/8 inches (69,5 x 51,1 cm) frame