English: Jan-Hendrik Pelz

"An Inner Place" ruruHaus documenta fifteen, 2022 40 figures / wood, oil on canvas

For "An Inner Place", Jan-Hendrik Pelz portrayed people who were forced to flee as a result of war or terror. The individual oil paintings are joined together to form life-size picture objects, thus opening up the step from the surface into the space and thus, with the means of painting, arrive at a more comprehensive view of the people portrayed. In cooperation with reception centres and facilities for refugees, the artist and over forty refugees worked together. "An Inner Place" shows the people who have arrived here and become part of our society and culture. The encounter with the painted people is also an invitation to engage with them. The people depicted appear relaxed, introverted and keep their eyes closed, creating a calm, concentrated atmosphere. "An Inner Place" refers to an inner space described in interviews, which harbours memories, longings and hopes and can also be used as a place of strength and retreat. In addition to the meaning of their actions, it also remains open what brought the portrayed together and what connects them.

Pelz himself comes from a family in which one parent came to Germany as an immigrant from Eastern Europe. The question of what influence flight and expulsion has on the individual, as well as over generations, has occupied the artist in his work for a long time.