Vanessa Henn's (b. Stuttgart 1970 lives and works in Berlin) objects and installations blend
formal reduction with playful comedy. The handrails she makes out of a wide variety of
materials run along walls project into rooms trace spirals mark lines or arcs and often
solicit our active engagement. Besides banisters her oeuvre which straddles the line between
architecture and sculpture also comprises bridges stairs and fences. All her creations are
energized by the tension between the static work of art and its dynamic environment which the
artist resolves by integrating her works into the goings-on of everyday life. A guardrail that
runs perpendicular to a flight of stairs or abruptly ends in the ceiling or floor is relieved
of its function rather than helping us go where we are going it is a companion who invites us
on a stroll into the imaginary and uncertain. And that is what makes Vanessa Henn's art so
alluring. Vanessa Henn studied sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart
(1992-2001) and at Edinburgh College of Art (1995-1996) and completed a Master of Fine Art at
the University of Canterbury School of Fine Art in Christchurch New Zealand (1999-2000).
