During the Renovation: A Site-Specific Video Installation by Jochen Wagner

In advance of its reopening in April 2026, the Kebbel Villa presents a site-specific video installation to draw attention to the ongoing renovation process: Jochen Wagner's ‘Cleaner’ (2021/25) is on display in one of the windows facing the street on the first floor.

Jochen Wagner’s work ‘Cleaner’ responds to the latest redesign of the Kebbel Villa to ensure accessibility. The site-specific video installation shows the artist applying a coat of paint to one of the first-floor windows of the Gründerzeit-building with a paint roller and then removing the paint from the windowpanes again. This action is repeated in a seemingly endless sequence, thus becoming a symbol for the ongoing construction work that will facilitate accessibility to art and culture at the Fronberg Exhibition House in the future and break down barriers.

The projection is only activated after dark. Between 5 and 10 pm on selected days, the artist can be seen standing with his back to viewers, repeatedly painting and cleaning the gallery windows in an endless cycle. The time-based connection to the transition from day to night intensifies the sensation of a process that is not linear but rather remains in a loop. Thus, Wagner's work reflects the renovation of the Fronberg building from the Gründerzeit period, entering into a dialogue with its architecture and history.

Jochen Wagner (born in Böblingen in 1983, currently living and working in Stuttgart) studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart from 2012 to 2017, and completed his studies in 2022 in the Weissenhof programme. In 2017, he won the art-in-architecture competition for the Centre for Advanced Materials at Heidelberg University. His work has been shown at Villa Merkel Esslingen, Gallery Giotta Seoul and the World Conference Centre in Bonn, among others.