House by Roman Signer

Ebeltoft, 2016

House, a new site-specific sculpture by Swiss artist Roman Signer on the grounds of Kvadrat headquarters in Ebeltoft, Denmark. The permanent work, commissioned by Kvadrat, consists of a stylised house made of steel, with an inverted roof that creates a basin collecting rainwater inside the construction.

As the artist explains: ‘When I saw this land I imagined a small red house standing there. From afar, the house looks like a ruin, with a collapsed roof and only the external walls left. But as one comes closer and looks through the window, one can see that there is a roof, only it is inverted on the inside. It must be beautiful to look at it when it rains heavily, following how the rainwater collects and flows out of it. But you got to have an umbrella. The house doesn’t give you any shelter!’

Roman Signer (Appenzell, 1938, lives and works in St. Gallen) has participated in prestigious international art exhibitions such as Documenta in Kassel (1987), Skulptur Projekte Münster (1997) and the Shanghai Biennale (2012). In 1999, he represented Switzerland at the 48th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia. He has widely shown internationally in prominent institutions including: the Camden Arts Centre and the Barbican Arts Centre in London (2001 and 2015); Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin (2007) and the Swiss Institute in New York (2010). In recent years, a travelling exhibition showing Roman Signer’s Super8 films was presented at different locations in China including the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing (2014) and the GAFA Art Museum in Guangzhou. The same exhibition was also displayed in Italy at MAN in Nuoro (2016).

Throughout his career, Signer has made more than fifty permanent sculptures, mostly in Switzerland but also in other locations including: Trivero (IT), Bochum (DE), Klein Göpfritz (AT), Hallstatt (AT), Nantes (FR), Lismore Castle (IR). A new commission in Cleveland (US) is also currently being realized.