Zitternde Herren

Zitternde Herren marks Harry Hachmeister’s fifth solo exhibition at fiebach, minninger. Its title combines an apparent contradiction: Herren (German for “gentlemen”)—a word that suggests authority, control, and stability—and zittern (“to tremble” or “to shake”), which evokes a physical or psychological state of fragility, instability, or exertion. It is a tension that runs through the works themselves, connecting them within the space. At the center of the exhibition are Fragile Egos—sculptural, mushroom-like objects whose delicate branches and brittle concrete bases convey a sense of instability. The gaze wavers between organic growth and parasitic proliferation. Beauty transforms into something disorienting. Everything connects and intertwines, defying clear categories and expectations. The exploration of fragility, transformation, and ambiguity continues in the reverse glass paintings. An inherent randomness in the technique lends the works a playful indeterminacy, allowing meanings to overlap and traditional notions to shift. Reminiscent of stained-glass windows, the pieces break free of religious narratives and instead conjure new possible worlds: a grim-faced bee figure juxtaposed with a skeleton reinterprets the classic dance of death motif, while elsewhere a cat provocatively obstructs the view of an exposed genital. Symbolically charged scenes brim with a sense of humorous lightness. Nothing in the show is static; nothing claims absolute truth. What we find instead is an atmosphere of becoming and change—an inkling that masculinity need not be associated with hardness, strength and steadiness. Here, bodies are free to be fragile and playful. Here, men can tremble.