The exhibition Chaos and Order, opening at KOW gallery in Berlin, is a comprehensive show by artist Monsieur Zohore that brings together humor, history, cultural memory, and identity politics on the same ground. Zohore’s works combine everyday objects (particularly paper towels, fans, and rotisserie machines) with political symbols, offering a critical perspective on contemporary Germany’s multilayered identity debates.
Four Fans, Four Characters
The opening piece of the exhibition, Wirbelsturm Marianne, Susanne, Sabine, Hildegard, consists of four fans mounted on the wall. These objects, each adorned with braided hair and seashells, function like “characters” representing individual personalities. The movement of the fans also dictates the overall dynamic of the show: a constantly rotating system that never fully synchronizes.
Paper Towels: Symbol of Order
Paper towels are used as a foundational material in nearly all of Zohore’s works. As the artist puts it, this material symbolizes both “domestic order” and the “desire for cultural cleansing.” A roll of paper towels wrapped around a rotisserie machine becomes one of the ironic centers of the exhibition. This “cleaning” object transforms into a carrier of historical stains and suppressed racial memory.
Layered Memory and Visual Chaos
The collages in the exhibition overlay popular culture and historical images: Pumuckl, Mesut Özil, James Brown, Bruno Ganz, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, or Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog appear in reinterpreted forms. These collages create visual spaces where the past and present collide on the same surface. Within the gallery’s sterile atmosphere, this density produces both a disconcerting and curiosity-arousing effect.
A System Within Chaos
Zohore’s works may appear scattered, random, or exaggerated at first glance. However, as one navigates the gallery, the viewer realizes that the artist has established a deliberate compositional order. Surprising unity emerges among color transitions, chains, plastic surfaces, and glossy paint traces. The artist emphasizes that chaos and order are not mutually exclusive but two dynamics that define each other.
Apartment No:26 Note
Zohore’s Chaos and Order exhibition is a direct response to Berlin’s multilayered social structure. Through humor and aesthetic excess, the artist poses serious questions: How much can a society erase the stains of its own past?
And how thin is the line between cleaning and forgetting?
Dates: Continues until 1 November 2025
Venue: KOW, Kurfürstenstraße 145 (Frobenstraße entrance), Berlin
