DUSSELDORF.- Beneath the Surface, Beyond the Trees is a collaboration between SAC Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth 1909 e. V. and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, realised as part of the project series Kunsthalle unterwegs.

Suitbertus Lake in Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth is normally not accessible to the public; it has been leased by the SAC Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth 1909 e. V. since 1970 and is used for fishing. As part of the exhibition Beneath the Surface, Beyond the Trees in the summer of 2026, the lake has been temporarily opened and used as a stage for artistic interventions. These deliberately contrast with the ecosystem of the lake and its surroundings, thus creating new perspectives on the location.

The lake is not merely a landscape, but a tapestry of movements, rhythms and transitions. Water, shore and vegetation form a delicate balance that is constantly shifting. It is within this interwoven fabric that the artistic works take their place; they engage with existing structures, shift perceptions and open up new relationships between the body, space and the surroundings.

The exhibition makes use of different spatial levels to make the site tangible: the water’s surface as an active, dynamic plane; the shoreline as an interface between the body of water and its surroundings; and the surrounding nature as a space for discovery, irritation and gradual engagement.

Beneath the Surface, Beyond the Trees opens up a new mode of engagement with the lake and its landscape. Through these artistic interventions, a gentle approach to an otherwise hidden natural space within the urban area becomes possible.

Aljoscha
Born 1974, Ukraine
Lives and works in Germany, Italy and Ukraine

The basis for Aljoscha’s drawings, sculptures and installations is the approach he has developed known as Bioism or Biofuturism – a utopian model of reimagined, future forms of life. For him, art is a philosophical practice and an attempt to develop a futuristic aesthetic for organic life. Through his works, he designs new, biofuturistic worlds, reflecting on questions of life, freedom and society.

Aljoscha’s translucent, delicate objects made of acrylic glass – some of which are coloured in different shades – combine painterly and sculptural elements. Inspired by the organic structures of the microcosm, transparent, seemingly floating forms emerge, reminiscent of natural formations such as corals. Having been exhibited in public spaces on several occasions, the installations, acting as interventions or even disruptions, challenge the apparent order and our understanding of spaces.

For the exhibition, Aljoscha has created a new sculpture. Seemingly floating, Premeditatio Malorum rises from the water, its colouring standing in vivid contrast to its surroundings. Through its reflection, the work enters into a dialogue with the lake, appearing fluid and shifting across the water’s surface as weather conditions change.





Daniel Hölzl & Abie Franklin
Born 1994, Austria, and 1995, Israel
Live and work in Berlin, Germany

With their installation BYCATCH, Daniel Hölzl and Abie Franklin explore the consequences of human intervention and natural phenomena, to which defensive strategies are employed. The central element of the installation is a series of inflatable tetrapods connected by fine nets, reminiscent of the mass-produced concrete wave breakers that have been used to protect coastlines from erosion since the 1950s, yet often destroying ecosystems.

By using air instead of concrete, Hölzl’s and Franklin’s BYCATCH questions the consequences of such interventions and no longer views the tetrapods as barriers, but as connecting elements within an ecological framework. The structures, originally made of stone and used as boundaries, are transformed into an inviting place for encounter and exchange, which simultaneously offers space for reflection.

The term “bycatch,” originating from the fishing industry, refers to animals that are accidentally caught in fishing nets – for example, around 300,000 dolphins and whales annually. The title alludes to the problem that the search for a quick solution often entails undesirable side effects.

The installation may be entered at one’s own risk.

Sofía Magdits Espinoza
Born 1995, Peru
Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany

Sofía Magdits Espinoza’s multimedia artistic practice encompasses textile art, performance, installation, music and video, with a particular focus on weaving. In her work, she weaves together materials, techniques and symbolic elements to create transcultural narratives about human relationships, social structures and ecological interconnections.

Influenced by feminist and decolonial perspectives, she understands weaving as a political-poetic practice of listening, healing and resistance. By connecting nature, cultural heritage and craft knowledge, she creates spaces for encounter where collective memories become visible and, through shared reflection, new visions of community and the future can emerge.

For the exhibition, she has focused on a small hut by the Suitbertus Lake, which is used by the SAC Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth 1909 e. V. for board meetings or, during the winter months, occasionally as a shelter for the club’s members. Over the five-week duration of the exhibition, it is given a new appearance – both inside and out. While the cottage’s new exterior blends organically into its surroundings, Magdits Espinoza highlights the communal use of the hut in the interior with colourful painted and woven elements. She has also woven further smaller works into the natural surroundings of the hut, inviting visitors to take a closer look and make discoveries.

Finnegan Shannon
Born 1989, USA
Lives and works in New York City, USA

In their work, Finnegan Shannon explores perceptions of disability and issues surrounding barriers in public spaces. The starting point for their artistic practice is Shannon’s own experience of cerebral palsy. Through text-based works and installation pieces, they draw attention to the everyday obstacles faced by people with disabilities.

One example is the series Do you want us here or not, in which Shannon highlights the lack of seating in public spaces: sturdy, deep-blue benches placed in venues such as exhibition spaces bearing short, handwritten sentences. These sentences appear as questions or prompts, encouraging reflection on inclusion, accessibility, one’s own prejudices and ableist structures.

In these works, accessibility is understood not merely as a technical requirement, but as a social and creative process that seeks to make art accessible to all people while placing human relationships and individuals at its core.

With the phrases I’m tired. Rest here if you agree and It was hard to get here. Rest here if you agree, two benches by the Suitbertus Lake invite visitors to linger and reflect on access and mobility. Who has access to the exhibition, and whose needs are not being met?

Sophie Utikal
Born 1987, USA
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

In her large-scale textile works, Sophie Utikal combines autobiographical experiences with decolonial and feminist perspectives. The stories she stitches into her pieces usually depict abstract figures that are both personal and universally relatable. In this way, she explores and reflects on her own experiences of migration as a woman of colour from the USA to Austria and Germany, as well as her role as a mother. In dreamlike visual worlds, she processes personal and collective traumas while simultaneously addressing healing, identity and self-empowerment.

For the exhibition, she has produced a new work in which she reflects on the theme of motherhood and her relationship with her two children – the figures merge into one another, seeming almost to blend together. In the intimate setting of My third eye, my second heart, the soft forms of the figures are mirrored by the gentle texture of the fabric and its movement in the wind, thus entering into a dialogue with the ever-changing surroundings.