SHAPES - Beyond Geometry

Cercle Cité

"My life is made up of squares, triangles, lines" – Vera Molnár

What do shapes tell us about the world that surrounds us? They are present in nature, mathematics, the sciences and art, constituting a universal and often unexpected language. Behind their apparent simplicity lie subtle logics, processes of transformation and invisible connections that organize reality.

SHAPES – Beyond Geometry explores shape as process, language and experience. Between order and chance, stability and mutation, calculation and intuition, the exhibition brings together works that interrogate the multiple ways in which the world is constructed and rendered perceptible – from mineral crystals to soap bubbles, algorithms to light.

The historic figures of Vera Molnar and François Morellet – the centenary of his birth is celebrated here – root the project in the heritage of geometric abstraction. Around them, fifteen contemporary artists carry these foundational intuitions forward: Justine Blau, Attila Csörgő, Marina Gadonneix with Victor Rambaud, Matthew Gardiner, Ulysse Lacoste in collaboration with Rémi Coulon (mathematician), Manon Lanjouère, Catherine Liechti, Adrien Lucca, Vera Molnár, François Morellet, Robert Turner Collective, Bruno Teheux & Hugo Parlier, Els Vermang, Laure Winants. Each in their own way, these artists explore the invisible structures underlying our environment.

The exhibition comes to grips with current issues: ecology, the Anthropocene, analog and digital hybridization. Shapes thus become tools for thinking, anticipating and understanding the transformations of the world.

Initially developed at the EPFL in Lausanne in 2025, with the support of the Université du Luxembourg and the Université de Fribourg the exhibition is redeployed here, enriched with new works and new visions. With installations, sculptures, photographs and videos, SHAPES – Beyond Geometry presents a space to discover, in which seeing, understanding and experiencing become inseparable.

Artists

Justine Blau, Attila Csörgő, Marina Gadonneix with Victor Rambaud, Matthew Gardiner, Ulysse Lacoste in collaboration with Rémi Coulon (mathematician), Manon Lanjouère, Catherine Liechti, Adrien Lucca, Vera Molnár, François Morellet, Robert Turner Collective, Hugo Parlier & Bruno Teheux, Els Vermang, Laure Winants.

Programmed by:
Marion Vergin et Camilla Cuppini

Location
: Ratskeller exhibition space (rue du Curé)

Discover the cultural agenda of Cercle Cité during Luxembourg Art Week.

Shapes
Graphic design: Studio Mich Welfringer