Published 3 SEP 2024

Opening – 13 SEP 2024, 6-10 pm
11 SEP until 19 OCT 2024

DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM proudly present the debut solo show of Harry Nuriev (b. 1984), the New York- and Paris-based artist, designer, and founder and creative director of Crosby Studios. His exhibition, titled The Foam Room, opens during Berlin Art Week on Friday, September 13, 6–10 PM, and will be on view through October 19, 2024.

The Foam Room features a mirrored installation that generates and releases large amounts of white foam, gradually filling the underground gallery. The reflective surfaces, combined with the volumes of foam, create an atmosphere that provokes visitors to engage, reflect, and immerse. Conceptually, the foam party represents a fascinating phenomenon where millions of air bubbles are suspended within a thin film of water held together by soap molecules. This ephemeral wonder can rapidly expand and vanish, mirroring the fast-paced nature of industry and our fleeting attention to spatial and economic concerns. In today’s consultative era, art is often reduced to a mere party trick, with the artist serving as a commercial tool or marketing gimmick—much like the fleeting nature of soap foam, which can burst and disappear in an instant.

Nuriev’s self-defined “Transformism” and reconstructive style fuse art, design, architecture, and fashion, breaking the boundaries that have traditionally separated these four creative fields to challenge broader ideas about how we live and work.

An essay contributed by Justine Ludwig, Executive Director of Creative Time, will accompany the exhibition and be published on our website prior to the opening.

The Foam Room is a collaboration between Harry Nuriev, DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM, and Telekom Electronic Beats, premiering on-site at our gallery. The partnership will continue with an afterparty on September 11, 2024, at Studio 1111, featuring special installations. Further details will be announced.

HARRY NURIEV (b. 1984) is a New York- and Paris-based artist, founder and creative director of Crosby Studios (est. in 2014). Nuriev’s creative practice spans a broad range, including immersive environments, art installations, public spaces and objects.

“Transformism”—a movement Nuriev invented to describe his world and style and communicate the practices that prioritize transformation and transformative experiences that are around him. Nuriev pushes his passion for experimentation with everyday objects we engage with. Through this process he aims to create extraordinary statements about today’s society based upon relevant yet conventional items and moments. Nuriev takes people out of their comfort zone and distracts their attention to feel a new feeling and become alert to things he finds important.

The New York Times Magazine has heralded Harry Nuriev as a pioneering voice in global minimalism, citing the instinctive influence of craft and architecture on his work. He has given a number of lectures and done educational programs at institutions including Harvard, Pratt, and the Royal College of Art in London, and done creative collaborations and projects with leading global brands and art.