Lena Marie Schütte, born in 1994 and based in Berlin, studied at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. She has exhibited her work in various group and solo exhibitions across Europe. Recent exhibitions include “Conditions of a necessity” at Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2021), “Apparition en haute altitude” at Galerie Droite Gauche, Paris (2022), and “Kiss your Darlings” at Åplus Galerie, Berlin (2024).

Schütte explores how predetermined structures influence our understanding of space, identity, and community. Through subtle interventions in everyday objects, she highlights the tension between individual needs and standardized architectural grids, revealing how social norms shape our lives and perceptions of privacy.

One of the works features eight doormats made of coconut fibres arranged in a closed circle. This piece symbolizes threshold spaces within the city where anonymity and community coexist. The doormat, an everyday object on the boundary between the outside and inside, transforms into a collective yet inaccessible space that blurs individual identity.

Another series of objects addresses the standardization of living spaces. Schütte creates modular cells using standard DHL M boxes. The screen print on the stamp on one of these boxes, which shows Mies van der Rohe´s Lake Shore Drives Apartments, is used here as a reference for the introduction of modern, serial architecture in residential buildings. A lipstick placed between the inside and outside of the open box symbolizes breaking free from the uniformity of our living environments and overall the societal expectations especially of women. Outdated but entrenched role models for women are a central theme in Schütte‘s work in general. She tackles social expectations, ranging from motherhood as an assumed fulfilment, the need to conform to existing structures as a prerequisite for social acceptance or the demand for a well-maintained appearance as an unspoken norm, just to name some. A significant symbol is the book „Bosses“ by conceptual artist Ghislaine Leung, which is affixed to one of the works and punctured by a shoe heel.

Using second-hand duvets sourced from eBay classifieds, she creates another object that, when inflated by fans, suggests a physical presence without revealing an actual body. These everyday items not only highlight the limitations of living spaces but also evoke memories and longings materialized in seemingly mundane objects.

Through her work, Schütte visualizes the invisible frameworks that dictate our living conditions and movements in space. She examines the delicate balance between standardization and individuality, privacy and publicity, architecture and the body.

Verena Osthoff