Wolfgang Laib

Wolfgang Laib's extraordinarily concentrated installations are touching in an immediate and fundamental way, perhaps because they also address various levels of early childhood consciousness. Beeswax tunnels are redolent with an overwhelming scent of sweet honey and pollen; powdery piles of pollen are such a luminous yellow that you want to put your hands in them and play. Visitors to the installations are opened up, become aware of the energetic presence of the natural materials shown, and are prepared for a spiritual and intellectual encounter with the work's symbolic content. This retrospective monograph establishes the unique position and great power of Laib's work.