Christian Megert Spiegelbilder · Artist talk
15 January 2026
Christian Megert
Swiss sculptor and object artist Christian Megert – now best known for his mirror works – first graduated from the School of Applied Arts in Bern and created monochrome material and structural paintings as well as sculptures made of iron and synthetic resin in the 1950s.
After stays in Stockholm, Paris, and Berlin, he returned to Bern in 1960, co-founded the international group Nouvelle Ecole Européenne in Lausanne, and created his first objects and environments with glass and mirrors.
In 1961, on the occasion of his first solo exhibition at the Køpke Gallery in Copenhagen, he published his manifesto ein neuer raum (a new space), which formulated his artistic aspirations for his decades of highly productive work.
Christian Megert creates new spaces through the use of mirrors. The arrangement of mirrors in his works on the one hand and the changing position of the viewer on the other hand result in fascinating effects. The artist says of the effect of his ZERO space, which was presented at Documenta 1968: »When people stand there, they are startled. They feel as if they are floating because they cannot see themselves. They have a completely different sense of space because they can no longer find their balance.«
While his early mirror works were mainly in black and white, Megert began to explore the interplay of colors and mirror effects in later years. Our Christian Megert – Spiegelbilder (Christian Megert – Mirror Images), which marks the artist's 90th birthday on January 6, mainly features his most recent works, although he has created a series of black-and-white works especially for the exhibition, drawing on his earliest works and revisiting the motifs of earlier pieces.
Gallerist Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen, who has long been fascinated by artistic mirror objects, took the occasion of this milestone birthday to organize a major exhibition featuring selected masterpieces by Christian Megert on the first floor of the spacious Cadoro exhibition space, the Center for Art and Science in Mainz-Hechtsheim. The exhibition was set up last week. We recorded the subsequent conversation with the artist for you in our video of the week.
On January 24, 2026, Christian Megert – Spiegelbilder will be officially opened at Cadoro. The opening speech at the vernissage, which will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in the presence of the artist, will be given by renowned art critic and journalist Michael Hübl, who works or has worked for Kunstforum International and Badische Neueste Nachrichten.
Born in Schwetzingen in 1955, Hübl is particularly interested in portraits of visual artists and was already involved in setting up the exhibition, where he had a very lively exchange with Christian Megert.
We hope that our artist talk has whetted your appetite for the upcoming exhibition, which will be on display from January 24 to June 1 this year at the Cadoro – Center for Art and Science in Mainz, and that we will have the pleasure of welcoming you to the opening reception on January 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at our gallery.
Works
And by the way: Art Karlsruhe is starting soon, and of course Galerie Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen will be represented again this year with its own booth (Hall 2, Booth E14). We hope to see you there as well. We will reveal what the gallerist has planned for this year's fair presentation in one of our next newsletters. You can look forward to it!
