FRAUKE SCHLITZ &
LEONIE WEBER

Schlitz extends this conceptual framework by challenging the definition of disorder, arguing that even a state of disarray possesses an inherent, internal order. Her large-scale collages function as topological mappings of a turbulent contemporary landscape. For Schlitz, the world presents itself as a vortex of fragments; one’s role is to reconstruct these elements to generate critical meaning. This inquiry into spatial boundaries extends directly into her sculptural practice, where Schlitz manipulates paper not as a flat surface, but as a three-dimensional, architectural medium capable of cutting through and defining physical space. Neither artist is interested in presenting decorative work, their work functions as a catalyst to convey a political commentary on structural and societal instability.

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This underlying political message remains quiet yet structurally grounding throughout the exhibition. Schlitz’s use of the New York Times as a primary medium involves an intuitive yet systematic intervention: applying paint to the newspaper pages and then cutting them into strips yields precise, hard-edged boundaries where her fresco-esque color palette intersects with the printed text and images. For Schlitz, these tectonic compositions are direct metaphors for internal cognitive processes. The act of painting over the press obscures information or highlights information when leaving it exposed.

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Weber uses color to expose somatic vulnerability and systemic pressure within a three-dimensional space. Alongside her cardboard black structures, in Collage/Construction Weber included a wall-dependent work, in a red palette, a departure that alters the emotional and physical reading of the material. Weber observes that this shift derived from an awareness of the tender, bodily physicality latent in the cardboard. By introducing red, pink, and brown tones, historically linked to sensual and corporeal experiences, Weber transforms the material, elevating it from a remnant of mass consumerism into a surrogate for biological tissue or skin. Weber notes, “It [red] transforms the material in a meaningful way: it brings out a bodily, tender, almost fleshy quality that was already latent in the cardboard, but not as visible in the black structures. The red shifts the emphasis. It makes the material feel less like a remnant of consumer culture and more like a body or skin."

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This sensitivity to material is also apparent in Weber’s organic sculptures: large, deflated forms constructed from papier-mâché and fiberglass epoxy. Rendered in a muted grisaille palette punctuated by subtle, visceral traces of red, these works manifest the physical toll of structural transformation and depletion. While initial iterations utilized a monochromatic red, Weber determined that a restrained grey palette enhanced the sculptural ambiguity of the deflated objects, allowing them to exist in an unstable, intermediary space between institutional support and total collapse.

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Schlitz and Weber are aligned in their respective practices by their mutual approach to material adaptability. When considering the prospect of a material exchange, Schlitz adapting the heavy cardboard constructions and Weber adopting the painted and cut newsprint, both artists acknowledge that their work is driven by conceptual associations rather than material rigidity. Collage/Construction transcends the technical relationship to materials; it represents a shared methodology for navigating historical and cultural fracture. Both Frauke Schlitz and Leonie Weber observe the same fragmented contemporary landscape, utilizing the deliberate acts of cutting, crushing, and assembling to establish a grounded space for critical contemplation.

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Images courtesy of the artist's and the Kentler International Drawing Space. All photos by Erin Derby.