Update Cologne #09

DAN DRYER
THE WRONG SIMS

The exhibition series Update Cologne, co-initiated by the City of Cologne and organized by the Kulturwerk of the BBK Cologne, will continue in 2026 with an exhibition by the artist duo Dan Dryer in the rooms of the Michael Horbach Foundation.

Behind the name Dan Dryer are Astrid Piethan and Jörg Koslowski, who have been living and working in Cologne since 2000. Both studied visual communication at the FH Aachen and then at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Professor Magdalena Jetelová. In their installations, sculptures, video works and performances, they deal with the perception and use of materials and architectural structures.
The duo alienates everyday materials such as aluminum plates, insulating materials or building materials, removes them from their original context and combines them into sculptural compositions. The works are often site-specific and actively involve visitors through reflections or interactions. This opens up new experiences of materiality, space and movement.

The exhibition Update Cologne 2026 has been specially conceived for the rooms of the Michael Horbach Foundation and shows the versatility of Dan Dryer's artistic work. Under the exhibition title The False Ledge , a simultaneously cool and immersive spatial installation is being created.
It makes associative references to the Electronic Arts computer game series The Sims (since 2000), to Jean-Luc Godard's science fiction film Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution from 1965 and to other discourses on the tensions between logic and emotion, control and freedom.

Website of Dan Dryer:
https://dan-dryer.de/

The exhibition will be accompanied by a continuation of the didactic project that was first realized in 2025 in cooperation with students of the transdisciplinary Master's program in Museum Studies at the Institute of Art History at the University of Bonn. The focus is on the dialog between art and science. The results will be presented alongside the exhibition and documented in the accompanying publication. Together with the students, an educational program for children and young people is also being developed in cooperation with the Cologne-Kalk comprehensive school and the Eduard-Mörike-Schule in Porz.

Dates:
(Current dates also available at www.update-cologne.de)
Vernissage Sun, January 11, 2026, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Duration until February 22, 2026
Concert Gregor Schwellenbach Sun, January 25, 2026, 2 pm
Artist Talk Sun, February 1, 2026, 12 noon
Finissage with catalog presentation: Sun, February 22, 2026, 11 am - 2 pm

Location: Michael Horbach Foundation, Wormser Straße 23, Cologne city center

Opening hours: Wednesdays and Fridays 3.30 to 6.30 pm, Sundays 11 am to 2 pm and by appointment on 0178 / 8474786 (curator Birgit Laskowski / www.zerofold.de).