Leiko Ikemura

Leiko Ikemura’s (*1951) exhibition project In Praise of Light at St. Matthew’s Church in Berlin was created at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A space of light and color, specific to the time and yet timeless, began a dialogue with the church: paintings on glass and canvas, sculptures, and a light installation that filled the apse of the church transformed the church, designed by Friedrich Stüler, into an open, interior space of protection and light, creating a vivid locale for debate and conversation, ad hoc concerts, worship services, and performances. The conversations published in the book reflect the dialogic creation of the exhibition and document the artistic resonance of the show, which was curated by Hannes Langbein and Alexander Ochs.