Henzel Studio is pleased to announce the display of a rug designed by Helmut in collaboration with Henzel Studio, currently on view at Twentieth, Los Angeles.

For Henzel Studio, Helmut Lang re-appropriated the shape of his sculpture Behind (2012). The surface and finishings have been crafted though different pile heights and material compositions.

Born in Vienna 1956, Helmut Lang lives and works in New York and on Long Island. Lang walked away from a groundbreaking career in fashion to pursue his original true calling as an artist. Hailed for the rigorous and direct ethos of his forms and choice of materials, he has been met with similar acclaim for his art since leaving the fashion world for good. Since 2005, Lang has permanently turned away from creations in direct context with the human body, and has since turned his focus exclusively to two- and three-dimensional artworks which subtly allude to notions of the figure using different media such as sculpture, wall pieces, installations and videos, predominantly built from found and readily available materials.

In his former occupation, he left an everlasting imprint on contemporary culture and how it is communicated, by redefining fashion codes and the modus operandi. His undeniable influence continues to reverberate to the present day. He simultaneously produced his own artwork while collaborating and exhibiting with different artists, most notably with Louise Bourgeois and Jenny Holzer, which has broken collateral ground in the recent resurgence of collaborations between fashion and art. An exhibition of Helmut Lang’s sculptures is opening at MOCA Westport on March 15th.

Helmut Lang portrait (photo by Elfie Semotan). Calle Henzel portrait (photo courtesy of Henzel Studio).

With material as departure point, Lang’s recent works explore the tensions between abstraction and figuration, and investigate space beyond the limitations of the human body through sculpture, reliefs, assemblage paintings and collages. Helmut Lang’s first solo exhibition of sculptures was presented at the Kestnergesellschaft in Hanover, Germany, in 2008. Having made art throughout early adulthood, Lang established a fashion label under his own name in 1978, presented his first collection at the Centre Pompidou in 1986, and achieved global recognition in the field over the following two decades. During those years, Lang maintained his connection to art and undertook collaborations with Jenny Holzer and Louise Bourgeois, among others. He retired permanently from the world of fashion in 2005 to turn to his art full-time and has since exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions. His works are included in numerous important art collections worldwide.

Since the launch of ‘Henzel Studio Collaborations’ at Barneys New York Madison Avenue in 2014 during Frieze Art Fair, Henzel Studio has developed art rugs with over thirty contemporary artists including Richard Prince, Helmut Lang, Jack Pierson, Nan Goldin, Scott Campbell, Richard Phillips, Marilyn Minter, Mickalene Thomas and Anselm Reyle. Extensive collections have also been developed in collaboration with artist’s foundations, that to date include Andy Warhol Foundation for The Visual Arts and Tom of Finland Foundation.

Free to disregard design movements and related principles and rules, the featured artists were invited to freely and seamlessly translate their work and artistic ethos into the media at hand, exploring shape, volume, and finishing, where practicality was secondary to concept. This creative brief allows all artists to embrace the outcome as part of their body of work.

Explore Untitled here.