Artist: Ruben Müller

LKIF Gallery presents The Place That Cannot Be, a solo exhibition by Ruben Müller. This exhibition marks the artist’s first solo show in Asia, inviting the audience into a place that, although seemingly nonexistent, evokes a sense of longing. In this imagined space, pomegranates ripen, sheep are gentle and trustworthy, and roses bloom abundantly in the garden. Müller’s paintings, imbued with tranquility and nostalgia, explore the things we deeply yearn for: what we wish to hold on to, what we struggle to remember, and what we fear losing.

The exhibition features 11 works based on Müller’s personal collection of imagery. In these works, the figures are absorbed in simple, everyday activities—taking laundry off the line, cradling a lamb, patting a cow, and picking fruit from a ladder. Through these scenes, Müller captures the universal moments that shape our lives.

The figures in Müller’s paintings are faceless and intentionally undefined, allowing for ambiguity. This allows the viewer to project their own experiences onto the characters, making the story both personal and relatable. Müller explains his choice of indeterminate figures with the quote, “When the name changes, the story becomes about you.” This open-ended approach transforms the works from personal expressions into universal reflections. In particular, the piece Io features a man gently patting a cow in the woods. The trees in the background suggest an outdoor setting, yet the image reveals little about the figure. The title Io is derived from Greek mythology, referring to the lover of Zeus, who transformed her into a cow to hide her from his wife, Hera. By overlaying this myth onto an everyday act, Müller adds layers of meaning and invites endless associations from the viewer.

Throughout the exhibition, a sense of nostalgia pervades the paintings. Time is not fixed to a specific moment, but rather unfolds in a blurred and uncertain way, evoking a longing to preserve something precious. Through their engagement with the works, viewers connect with gestures of care, warmth, valuable efforts, and, of course, cherished memories we hold in our hearts.

As Henri Bergson (1859–1941) once said, memory fades with time, yet longing remains vivid. If a place that cannot exist were before you, what you may wish to see there could be that very ‘faded memory’. What would you wish to encounter in such a place?

Ruben Müller (b. 1990, Mönchengladbach, Germany) lives and works in Dresden. He received his MFA at the University of Fine Arts Dresden in 2024.