Esther Stocker

Galerie Krobath is pleased to present crumpled logic, the latest solo exhibition by artist Esther Stocker (b. 1974). This exhibition delves into Stocker’s artistic practice, where she explores the tension between geometric patterns and structured frameworks. Her paintings and crumpled sculptures emerge from an intensive exploration of systems of order and the ambiguity within seemingly precise forms. Through subtle shifts, Stocker probes the fragile boundary between structure and chaos, revealing a paradox within the grid: despite its formal rigidity, it overwhelms the eye and unsettles our perception of clarity.

For the artist, the grid serves as a foundation that makes deviations from order perceptible. Without a system, chaos cannot be conceived, as it can only be defined in relation to an established framework. Within this dialectic between structure and anomaly, Stocker unfolds her own logic of chaos. She creates spaces that offer viewers both the potential for orientation and the possibility of getting lost. Her minimalist visual language—dominated by lines and patterns in black and white—translates into strict formal boundaries and spatial dimensions. Stocker’s focus on minimal elements—horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines—shapes her paintings, installations, and sculptures, with the signature black-and-white grid serving as a conceptual thread throughout her work.

Stocker’s crumpled sculptures—made from printed PVC film or aluminum board—occupy the walls, hang suspended from the ceiling, and lie scattered across the floor. The structured patterns on the material are deliberately disrupted by the crumpling process, bringing to mind the texture of wrinkled paper and transforming orderly grids into intricate distortions. This deliberate disruption of structured patterns is essential to Stocker’s work, where she explores the delicate balance between order and collapse, certainty and ambiguity. Through the fluidity of these forms, the hidden instability of a system surfaces—one that Stocker purposefully destabilizes, inviting us to question the very conditions of its existence.

In the late 1990s, Stocker debuted with geometric-abstract paintings, a body of work she has continually refined and now presents in the back section of the gallery as part of crumpled logic. These works feature orthogonal grids in a restrained palette of white, gray, and black. Her paintings question the supposed rigidity of systems, challenging viewers’ perceptions by creating a kind of “camouflage” through irregular grids—revealing rather than concealing. The clear structure dissolves in favor of subtle disorientation, as a palpable fragility undermines the apparent solidity of the forms.

With crumpled logic, Esther Stocker initiates a dialogue between order and disorder, drawing viewers into a dynamic interplay of structure and impermanence. The works on display examine the fragility of systems, challenging fixed perceptions of stability. This creates a layered experience that goes beyond the visual, transforming the space into a site of disruption and reflection. Through her minimalist aesthetic, Stocker creates moments of disquiet, where apparent clarity exists in constant tension with the unpredictable.

Text by Livia Klein