Sperling

Sperling Sperling is a Munich based gallery for contemporary art.

Ana Navas explores office culture through objects, design, and clothing – asking how they shape ideas of authority, conf...
17/06/2026

Ana Navas explores office culture through objects, design, and clothing – asking how they shape ideas of authority, confidence, and control. Her 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 sculptures (e.g. 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴) draw on the look of 1980s corporate fashion, when dressing “right” was closely tied to ambition and visibility.
Instead of showing just garments, Navas translates these elements into sculptural forms, turning them into objects that feel both familiar and slightly strange.
Presented at the gym of this year’s Basel Social Club, the works meet a second world of discipline and self-optimization. Office wear and fitness equipment suddenly speak the same language.
Between desk and workout, Navas shows how much our environments shape how we perform and present ourselves. More generally, the artist traces the genealogy of objects – their origins, their migrations through contexts, their subtle shifts in meaning (𝘉𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰, 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘐).

Ana Navas, 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥, 2018, mat, plaster, textile, paper, metal, 193 × 65 × 5 cm (slide 1&3, photos Sebastian Kissel)
Ana Navas, 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴, 2018, carpet, cardboard, textile, leather, silver, 130 × 104 × 5 cm (slide 4&5, photos S. Kissel)
Ana Navas, 𝘉𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰, 2023, acrylic on textile, plastic chairs, metal and plastic stand, cardboard, wood, 129 × 63 × 47.5 cm (slide 9, photo by S. Verdon)
Ana Navas, 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘐,  (in collaboration with Toon Verhoef), 2023, chairbacks, vacuum cleaner, bijouterie, textile, acrylic paint, cardboard, 110 × 36 × 40 cm (10,11, photos LNDW studio)
social.club installation shots by Nicola Morittu (slides 2,8,12)
Slides 6 & 7 from the group show 𝘭à 𝘰ù 𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 at CAN Centre d’art Neuchâtel , 2026, photos by S. Verdon

We are thrilled to be part of the fifth edition of .social.club, taking place through June 20, 2026, in a vacant multi-s...
15/06/2026

We are thrilled to be part of the fifth edition of .social.club, taking place through June 20, 2026, in a vacant multi-story office building just minutes from Basel SBB train station. Within this setting, we are presenting works by Ana Navas (born in Ecuador, grown up in Venezuela, based in Rotterdam), whose sculptural practice playfully engages with systems of display, design, and circulation, and Malte Zenses (born in Solingen, based Berlin), whose new series of reworked newspapers is a testament to daily work and withdrawal over the past year.

(slides 1, 3) & (slides 2, 4) at Basel Social Club 2026. Installation views by Nicola Morittu.

“This year’s edition reconsiders the workplace not as a site of production, but of critical reflection. Once a symbol of efficiency and growth, the office today reflects shifting realities shaped by digitalization, remote work, and artificial intelligence. Basel Social Club engages this condition through exhibitions, performances, music, gastronomy, and informal encounters that explore questions of labor, time, productivity, and rest.
Unfolding vertically across the building’s stacked floors, the architecture becomes part of the curatorial framework. Spatial layers and circulation routes echo contemporary notions of the “underground” — as both a site of cultural resistance and a metaphor for the hidden structures and tensions of late capitalism.
The building remains continuously activated throughout the week, with artists responding directly to its architecture and atmosphere. A dedicated night program expands the experience into the late hours, while an “Out of Office” zone offers space for pause and retreat.“

Kitty Doherty about her concrete poem, that served as a guiding theme in the development of the exhibition 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽...
12/06/2026

Kitty Doherty about her concrete poem, that served as a guiding theme in the development of the exhibition 𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 by Anousha Payne: “Wrote this a long time ago, in a familiar moment of trying to speak, and be heard while speaking, while up against the many forces that pull and push and change us every time (all the time).”

On view in Munich until July 4, 2026.

is a concrete poet, writer, artist and researcher whose work centres around language. She creates concrete poetry and socially engaged pieces that explore articulatory and epistemic marginalisation, intermediality and hierarchy, gendered sound, and the role language plays in social and cultural constructions. 
She has been Editor-in-Chief for the Berlin-based literary journal FU Review since 2024. Her first concrete poetry collection, I make you make me sing, was published in 2023 by Paper View Independent Publishing. She is currently completing her MA in literature at Freie Universität Berlin, where she is researching concrete poetry and chronic pain. Her work has appeared in journals such as The Visual Poetry Times and aurapoesiavisual, turned into a poem-object for Oo Press, and featured in exhibitions in Berlin and Istanbul.

& , .social.club We’re looking forward to participate in Basel Social Club 2026 under the motto OFFICE. This year’s v...
06/06/2026

& , .social.club

We’re looking forward to participate in Basel Social Club 2026 under the motto OFFICE. This year’s venue is a large, vacant building centrally located near Basel SBB train station, and we are excited to present works by Ana Navas and Malte Zenses (see preview PDFs via this link in bio 🔗 ).

Sperling at Basel Social Club
Room 0.A.3
Erdbeergraben 1
4051 Basel

Opening: Sunday, June 14, 2 PM
Hours: Monday–Saturday (June 15–20), 4 PM – 3 AM

Let us know if you’ll be around and plan to visit!

Slide 1,3,5,7: Malte Zenses, Storno please, neulich einfach mal bei ‘Independent Women, Pt. 1’ geheult und noch immer keinen Millimeter weiter als 1-15, 2026, Varnish, paper, epoxy, oil, coloured pencil, graphite pencil, collage, fabric, ink, and gouache on newspaper, newspaper on aluminium, each 150 × 120 × (7 bottom depth, 2,5 top depth) cm, MZ/M_140, photos: Nick Ash

Slides 2,4,6: Ana Navas, Fraternal Twin I, (in collaboration with Toon Verhoef), 2023, chairbacks, vacuum cleaner, bijouterie, textile, acrylic paint, cardboard, 110 × 36 × 40 cm, photo: LNDWStudio

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 Act 4 Encapsulated in thoughts ● She will cocoon ● Her cells melted into a deep blue...
05/06/2026

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 
Act 4
 
Encapsulated in thoughts ● She will cocoon ● Her
cells melted into a deep blue ● Or was it silver ●
Cries in the distance ● Screech to a stop ● Emulsified
 lines of wings trace and swell silver and blue ● They
stroke fast and heavy ● Breathe swallowed ● The
 chrysalis stage of renewal ● Injected a venomous
guilt ● For living and desiring ●
 
1. The home is reinhabited as a space of coexistence rather than control.
2. Solitude shifts from confinement to quiet containment.
3. The protagonist accepts a porous relationship with her environment.

From the expanded opera libretto by Ushara Dilrukshan

Anousha Payne works in order of slides:
𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒿𝑜𝓁𝓉, 2026, Natural dyes, chalk pastel, wax, iron, and pine resin on stretched silk cotton, 150 × 120 cm
ℋ𝑜𝓁𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓂, 2026, ceramic, bronze, salvage metal and knit, wax, found plaster cast, paper pulp, 115 × 85 × 40 cm
𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹, 2026, stoneware ceramic, found chair, bronzes, 87 × 40 × 45 cm
ℳ𝑜𝓉𝒽𝓈, 2026, 20 unique bronzes, approx. 3 × 2 × 1 cm

Photos by Sebastian Kissel

On view at the gallery

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 Act 3 She rebels into the unconscious ● Surrendering to herself ●Indulging into the ...
03/06/2026

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽
 
Act 3
 
She rebels into the unconscious ● Surrendering to
herself ●
Indulging into the depths of her being ● Retrieving
a small piece of herself each time ● Concealing
them within her four walls ● Walking the perimeter
● Rectangular squares hold her ● Prisoner in a
 frame ● Thoughts protruding in liquidated form ●
Like silver birch reflections on river paths ●
 
1.         The moth is invited for dinner.
2.         It takes a seat, scratching the chair against the hardwood floor.
3.         It sits and stares through the protagonists spine inflicting a cold chill.
 
From the expanded opera libretto by Ushara Dilrukshan

Anousha Payne batik and cotton paintings in order of slides:
𝒮𝒽𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒶 𝓅𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽, 2026, chalk pastel, pine resin, wax, iron, natural pigments and dyes on stretched cotton, 70 × 180 cm
ℐ𝓃 𝒶 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓂, 2026, watercolour and gel medium on stretched cotton, 150 × 220 cm
𝒫𝓊𝓈𝒽 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓉, 2026, chalk pastel, pine resin, wax, iron, natural pigments and dyes on stretched cotton, 70 × 180 cm
𝒟𝓇𝒶𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝒻𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈, 2026, watercolour and gel medium on stretched cotton, 150 × 220 cm
Photos by Sebastian Kissel

On view at the gallery

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽 As if she were losing her essence ● Tearing red and silver ● Cutting a pathway throu...
30/05/2026

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽
 
As if she were losing her essence ● Tearing red and silver ● Cutting a pathway through her flesh ● Into her inner most being ● The moth buries itself inside its new home ● Like a parasite eating her raw ● An attempt to escape her bondaged mind ● Edging towards chaosmosis ● At the moment of atomic fusion ● Strands of silk rise from her scalp ● Interwoven in antennas ● Suffocating at the request of the wind ● Lines spiral across broken in verse ● Texture builds on frons ● Of chitin ● left illuminated
Through ocelli ●
 
1. The internal order of the home begins to collapse.
2. Thoughts multiply and fragment beyond control as the body metamorphoses.
3. The protagonist becomes increasingly permeable to external and non-human forces.
 
Act 2 from the expanded opera libretto by Ushara Dilrukshan

Salvage paper in sculptures and painting-collages by Anousha Payne (works in order of slides):
𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓇 (𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉, 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒), 2026, stoneware ceramic, salvage paper, glue, metal, LED, 60 × 70 × 90 cm
ℳ𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝓎 (𝟹), 2026, chalk pastel, oil pastel, bio resin, pencil, salvage paper on cotton, 70 × 220 cm
ℳ𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝓎 (𝟸), 2026, chalk pastel, oil pastel, bio resin, pencil, salvage paper on cotton, 90 × 100 cm
𝒜𝓂𝓂𝒶, 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 2026, stoneware ceramic, paper, glue, bronze, wire, 90 × 50 × 40 cm
ℳ𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝒹𝓎 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔, 2026, pencil, chalk pastel, oil pastel on salvage paper, 34 × 39 cm

On view at the gallery

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽Act 1 She had dreamed of a moth ● Living under the surface of her skin ● Flapping aro...
29/05/2026

𝒯𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒪 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽

Act 1
 
She had dreamed of a moth ● Living under the surface of her skin ● Flapping around in small tunnels ● In her arms and legs ● Reflecting off her dermis ● Their forewings engraving patterned thoughts into her being ● Their hindwing tracing the paths carved out from within the subcutaneous body ● Like a moth remembers its screeching scent from its previous form ● Tucked away in this little brick cocoon ● She wonders ● Will it be painful when her bones pupate ● Or will she be left crawling on her belly ●
 
1. The protagonist exists in a state of suspended agency.
2. Caught between external bodies, the boundary between self and environment begin to blur
3. Repetition replaces intention; time loses direction.

From the expanded opera libretto by

Anousha Payne, ℬ𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽 (𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎), 2026, Natural dyes, chalk pastel, iron, wax, and pine resin on stretched silk cotton, 120 × 280 cm | 47 1/4 × 110 1/4 in

On view at the gallery.

Andrew Gilbert curated the show “Medea Serves Bowl of Burnt Broccoli” at Yuan Art Cave, Hangzhou, China, May 23 – July 4...
27/05/2026

Andrew Gilbert curated the show “Medea Serves Bowl of Burnt Broccoli” at Yuan Art Cave, Hangzhou, China, May 23 – July 4, 2026

with: Anne Döhr , Eat My Teeth (Din , Prot , Natt Nemesism) , Nik Fiend , Mark Freeth , Baoyi Fu , Andrew Gilbert , Joachim John (1933 - 2018) , Kataya , ELvira Kirchner , Jiayi Lin , Chonghua Lv , Kang Mao , Stani Nitkowski (1949 - 2001) , Elfriede Schade (1930 - 2015), Jürgen Schieferdecker (1937 - 2018) , Andi S*xgang , Yuan Zhang

Assistant curator: 
opening concert: Bye Bye Fish

From the curatorial text:

French artist Jean Dubuffet proclaimed, to eat burnt broccoli is better than to eat fine cuisine broccoli, in other words, art should be pure, destroying the rational in the mind as the Goth tribes destroyed Rome in 410 AD and forever connecting the term Gothic in Europe with irrational and primitive forces.
[…]
The exhibition “Medea serves Bowl of Burnt Brocoli“ ,a mixture of museum ,temple and Heart of Darkness meets Caligari’s Cabinet, brings together paintings and drawings made by musicians of the original „Gothic scene“, Mark Freeth / Ausgang, Andi S*xGang / S*xGang Children (from the series „Embryo“ orignally exhibited at the British Library „Terror and Wonder – The Gothic Imagination“ London, 2014) and Nik Fiend/Alien S*x Fiend. Emerging from Poland „Eat My Teeth“ represent the new young underground Gothic energy with art made specifically for this exhibition. KangMao paintings , of the band Subs and ByeBye Fish, bring the punk influence on Gothic. Book covers, vinyl records, CDs, concert posters and Goth archive material are combined with young artists from China and Europe, whose work captures the expressionism and humour (often ignored) of Goth, the subversive and absurd as well as the dark , erotic and shamanic. Print art of the DDR further explores the themes of nuclear war and imperialsim, which lurk in the songs of the original 1980s Goth scene.

    .a.freeth     .byebyefish  

We are thrilled to open Triangle reshapes the O of my mouth, the new exhibition by , developed in close collaboration wi...
15/05/2026

We are thrilled to open Triangle reshapes the O of my mouth, the new exhibition by , developed in close collaboration with (expanded opera and soundscape). Join us tonight for the opening performance by sonic performance artist and trained soprano Ushara, a one woman opera in 4 acts, starting at 7:30 (duration approx. 25min).
With concrete poetry by Kitty Doherty, as part of Various Others Munich 2026.

Opening Friday, May 15, 2026, 18–21 h
Performance (expanded opera by Ushara):
Friday 19:30 & Saturday 15:30

Various Others Opening Weekend:
Saturday, May 16, 11–18 h
Sunday, May 17, 11–16 h

Slide 1) exhibition view
Slide 2) Ushara
Slide 3) Anousha Payne, Holometabolism, 2026, ceramic, bronze, salvage metal and knit, wax, found plaster cast, paper pulp, 115 × 85 × 40 cm

Video by Anousha Payne
Photos by Dougal MacArthur


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