Christoph Niemann: Current Lines
Facade art at the Horst Janssen Museum
© Andrey Gradetchliev
International artist and illustrator Christoph Niemann is transforming the façade of the Horst Janssen Museum into a luminous work of art. The wall drawing entitled "Current Lines" is his largest work in public space to date. The installation was illuminated for the first time in the evening hours of 23 November and is also intended to give the museum greater visibility in the urban space. In the course of the new construction of the neighbouring city museum and the associated building site, the art project sees itself as an opportunity for an unusual change of perspective. In this phase of upheaval, the building of the Horst Janssen Museum itself becomes a canvas.
About Christoph Niemann
© Matthew Priestley
"The Horst Janssen Museum is a draughtsman's house. And you can read the fascination for the line in every single one of our special exhibitions," says museum director Dr Jutta Moster-Hoos. "Christoph Niemann is an expert on the line, its degree of abstraction, its accuracy and its pointedness. He is the ideal person to create a mural on the façade of the museum, which is dedicated not only to Horst Janssen, but also to the art of drawing." Christoph Niemann (*1970) is internationally active as an illustrator and graphic designer, has published various books and regularly draws covers for "The New Yorker", "National Geographic" and "ZEIT Magazin". In 2017, he was portrayed in an episode of the Netflix series "Abstract: The Art of Design" ». On his Instagram channel @abstractsunday, 1.1 million people follow his weekly illustrations and animations.
Drawing creative process visualised on 50 metres
The 50-metre-long mural "Current Lines" shows a person drawing, which gives a different image during the day than at night. The black design on the white façade is complemented by strings of light that light up at night. "It's about inspiration and work, about head and hand, existing and imagined, about figures and ornaments, ultimately about pen and paper, which are at the beginning of all creative work," Jutta Moster-Hoos explains. "Christoph Niemann's mural thematises the creative process in a light and surprising way and at the same time makes the curved façade of the museum dance over a length of more than 50 metres."
Funding and realisation
The realisation of the mural was financially supported by the Friends and Sponsors of the Horst Janssen Museum e.V. They contributed 12,000 euros towards the cost of the artwork. The company BunteWände from Ibbenbühren, which specialises in artistic façade design and graffiti, and the company Protones from Lüneburg, which is responsible for installing the mural's electrical and lighting systems, were responsible for creating Christoph Niemann's façade mural.
