Peter Klasen

Boccara artwork selection by Didier Marien

Works by Peter Klasen in the Boccara Collection

Boccara is excited to present the powerful and provocative textile works of Peter Klasen, a pivotal figure in European contemporary art whose work serves as a clinical interrogation of our industrial landscape. A master of "Narrative Figuration," Klasen has spent over six decades exploring the cold, often claustrophobic intersection of technology and the human condition. By translating his signature motifs—mechanical parts, warning signs, and hydraulic systems—into the architectural medium of tapestry, Boccara offers a unique perspective on his "aesthetic of the cold." In these woven works, the hard-edged precision of the industrial world meets the tactile warmth of the loom, creating a striking visual tension that challenges the viewer to reconsider the mechanical structures that define our society.

ORIGINS & VISION

About the Artist

The Architect of Narrative Figuration

Peter Klasen’s artistic journey began at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin, where his education provided the technical foundation for his meticulous approach to detail. However, his true creative awakening occurred upon his arrival in Paris in 1959. At the height of Nouveau Réalisme, Klasen carved out a distinct path as a co-founder of the Narrative Figuration movement alongside artists like Valerio Adami and Erró. Rejecting both pure abstraction and traditional realism, Klasen utilized the language of advertising, cinema, and photography to tell “stories” about the industrial landscape. His work is characterized by a “cold” aesthetic—using airbrush techniques to replicate the smooth, unyielding surfaces of steel and plastic—to explore the tension between the organic human body and the rigid, functional world of machines.

The Industrial Body and Surveillance

For Klasen, the objects of the city—warning signs, freight wagons, pressure gauges, and medical instruments—are not merely functional; they are symbols of a society characterized by control and commodification. In his celebrated “Automobile” and “Medical” series, he juxtaposes mechanical parts with sensual human forms, confronting the viewer with notions of desire and vulnerability. His art functions as a commentary on the “industrial body,” where the individual is often isolated or confined within a network of metallic structures. This preoccupation with surveillance and the “unseen” force of technology has earned his work a permanent place in prestigious global institutions, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

The Woven Infrastructure: Wagon/Bache 31 RV

The tapestry Wagon/Bache 31 RV, featured at Boccara, serves as the definitive textile expression of Klasen’s industrial vision. In this work, the artist isolates fragments of freight transport—bold lettering, numbers, and mechanical fasteners—to create a composition defined by geometry and visual rhythm. By focusing on the side of a transport container, Klasen transforms a mundane object of logistics into a monumental symbol of modern dynamism.

Handwoven in wool by the master artisans of Atelier 3, the tapestry achieves a remarkable technical feat: translating Klasen’s highly controlled, metallic surfaces into a textured, tactile medium. The weavers utilize subtle variations in fiber density and linear patterning to replicate the smooth reflections and crisp shadows of the original painting. By bringing his “narrative of the machine” to the loom, Boccara offers a rare opportunity to experience the power of Klasen’s vision in an architectural scale that introduces a new, material softness to the cold precision of the industrial age.