The Kunstmuseum Basel in the work of Martin Spengler

Martin Spengler is fascinated by cities and architecture; this fascination applies both to the object itself and to the human construct of ideas behind it. For him, every building has a physical presence and, as a result, a unique aura that he focuses on through his artworks. "A single person is not able to create something like this," says Spengler about the creation of buildings. "This level of effort and work, deliberation, planning and development shows the superhuman will to create something and make it work."

In the "Basel 1" and "Basel 2" editions, he evokes the spirit of the Museum Basel as the world's oldest art museum open to the public. Paul Bonatz, the main representative of the Stuttgart School, and his student, the Swiss architect Rudolf Christ, designed the current museum building in 1931. For Spengler, a special expressiveness is revealed in the staircase as a distinctive element of the museum architecture in combination with the sculpture by François-Auguste-René Rodin.

For the technical process of creating Martin Spengler's works, photos, image files and sketches form the basis for the preliminary drawing. The works themselves are the result of details carved out of corrugated cardboard, which are then soaked in glue and treated with lime ground. Finally, the works on paper, which have already been elaborated, are given additional depth and contour by means of graphite.