171 Gallery announces its inaugural exhibition The Spaces In Between, opening on Thursday, 27 November 2025 in the Old City of Lucerne. The exhibition brings together works by Nicole Henning, Keiko Kimoto, Lipp & Leuthold, Claudia Limacher, Kai Matussik, René Odermatt, Hiroe Saeki, Pascal Sterchi, Ann Tracy and Jörg Wiele.
Through painting, sculpture and drawing, The Spaces In Between considers how form, perception and absence intersect. The exhibition focuses on the intervals that give structure to experience, the subtle shifts in awareness that occur between one state and another. Each artist approaches this idea through distinct material vocabularies, examining the balance between stillness and movement, solidity and openness, gesture and restraint.
The works invite a mode of looking that is both concentrated and responsive. They suggest that intimacy arises not only through proximity, but through sustained attention, through the quiet recognition of presence and the awareness of distance as an active field rather than a void.
Referencing the Japanese concept of Ma (間), understood as the relational space that defines both object and experience, The Spaces In Between proposes that meaning is shaped not by what is filled, but by what remains unarticulated.
As its first exhibition, The Spaces In Between introduces 171 Gallery's program, which is committed to supporting contemporary artistic practice through research, dialogue and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The gallery aims to build a context in which material, thought and process coexist, a space that values reflection as much as production.
Participating Artists
Ann Tracy (born 1964 in Massachusetts, United States) works across painting, sculpture, installation, video and writing to explore the spiritual and the unseen. Her practice channels mystic and symbolic traditions, reflecting on energy, transformation and consciousness. Drawing from visionary figures such as William Blake and Rudolf Steiner, Tracy's works radiate an inner luminosity that invites viewers to experience the boundary between matter and spirit.
Keiko Kimoto (born 1977 in Kyoto, Japan) is known for her lyrical paintings that balance precision and spontaneity. Through quick, intuitive brushstrokes, she captures the stillness within movement and the rhythm that arises from repetition. Educated at the University of the Arts Berlin, Kimoto bridges Eastern and Western aesthetics, creating works that meditate on the transient and interconnected nature of existence.
Claudia Limacher (born 1967 in Germany) is inspired by light, movement and the natural world. Her layered paintings translate emotion into shifting fields of color and texture. Combining acrylics, oils and pigments, she creates immersive compositions that explore transparency and reflection. Guided by synesthetic perception, Limacher's works offer a contemplative balance between serenity and sensory intensity.
Nicole Henning (born in Essen, Germany) merges her background in theater and stage design with painting to create worlds of constructed reality. Her compositions resemble surreal, psychological stages where human figures interact with fragmented backdrops drawn from consumer culture and the digital image. Henning examines the individual's place within a mediated world, revealing tension between presence and illusion.
Hiroe Saeki (born 1978 in Osaka, Japan) is renowned for her delicate monochrome drawings that explore the line between the visible and invisible. Working with mechanical pencil on Kent paper, she creates intricate organic forms that recall botanical and geological structures. Deeply rooted in Japanese aesthetics, her work balances fragility and precision, reflecting on the passage of time and the quiet rhythms of nature.
Lipp & Leuthold (born in Switzerland) are an artist duo whose collaborative paintings investigate the meeting point between abstraction and figuration. Their practice centers on the expressive potential of the line as a living, evolving force. Through a balance of control and spontaneity, they create compositions that shift between chaos and order, inviting viewers to experience painting as process and transformation.
René Odermatt (born 1972 in Zug, Switzerland) is a sculptor who combines classical craftsmanship with conceptual curiosity. Trained at the Cantonal School of Woodcarving in Brienz and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, he transforms traditional wood sculpture into a contemporary language of humor, reflection and restraint. His works reveal a precise dialogue between structure, form and imagination.
Kai Matussik (born 1965 in Hamburg, Germany) approaches painting with wit, sensitivity and poetic melancholy. Working across diverse materials, he explores the contradictions of human existence with both humor and depth. His inventive compositions and associative imagery evoke a sense of playful reflection, transforming irony into empathy and curiosity into artistic insight.
Pascal Sterchi (born in Switzerland) explores themes of reconciliation, transformation and vulnerability through a practice guided by intuition and imagination. His works reflect on identity and emotional flux, often suggesting moments of metamorphosis and openness. By allowing material and gesture to unfold naturally, Sterchi creates images that reveal the delicate balance between chaos and contemplation.
Jörg Wiele (born 1951 in Mecklenburg, Germany) is celebrated for his kinetic sculptures that unite art, engineering and movement. Educated at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, he constructs precisely balanced objects that respond to the lightest breath of air. Influenced by Eastern philosophy, Wiele's works transform motion into meditative experience, inviting quiet reflection through perpetual change.
Founded by Claudia Limacher and Alfredo Luis González Parra, 171 Gallery provides a platform for artists working across media and generations, establishing a new presence for contemporary art in Lucerne's historic centre.
