Change of scenery - Intervention by Bastian Muhr
In the intervention "Tapetenwechsel", Bastian Muhr is placing selected works from the collection of the Museum Wiesbaden on his wallpaper specially designed for the exhibition until June 28.
Classic paintings have a foreground and a background. So is wallpaper on the wall the background for what takes place in the room? Or is the wallpaper itself the event and the background the architecture in which it is located? Berlin artist Bastian Muhr poses these questions in his intervention "Tapetenwechsel" (Wallpaper Change, February 27–June 28, 2026), placing selected works from the Museum Wiesbaden collection on wallpaper he designed specifically for the exhibition.
"I have been interested in wallpaper design for several years. I create patterns that change as they run along the wall: motifs are randomly distributed next to each other on the surface using an algorithm, or the shape of the ornaments changes continuously. For me, this creates a combination of a patterned background and a composed mural. I find it very appealing to position the works precisely in this intermediate area." Bastian Muhr, artist
Similar to Muhr's pencil drawings, whose structure is continued by rolling dice (entirely analog by hand), the algorithm introduces a component that allows system and chance to enter into dialogue. By intervening in the space and the architecture it offers, Bastian Muhr tests the viewer's perception. As in his floor work "Zickzack" (2016 in the museum's project space), his wallpapers also create a linear structure that shifts between the wall and the spatial continuum.
About the artist
Bastian Muhr, born in 1981, lives and works in Berlin. He works with various media, focusing primarily on drawing and painting. He regularly creates large site-specific works in the architecture of exhibition spaces or in public spaces. From 2004 to 2010, he studied painting and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig. Since then, his works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Slovakia, and the USA.