Johannes Terbach transforms keys and found objects into unconventional object art that explores turning points, perception, and new perspectives.
A key is supposed to fit. With Johannes Terbach, it does exactly the opposite. He steps away from his craft, teams up with screws, hooks, wire, and other discarded objects—and becomes an enigmatic being, a visual symbol, or a catalyst for expanded consciousness.
In his exhibition “Key Experiences,” Terbach presents object art made from found objects and repurposed materials. He doesn’t hide their origins. Keys remain keys; scrap remains scrap. Yet through new connections, objects lose their unambiguous meaning. What was just a tool a moment ago suddenly raises questions about opening and closing, possession and loss, knowledge and certainty.
Johannes Terbach, born in Langenberg in 1966, is a stonemason, sculptor, performer, and action artist. Yet his work cannot be pigeonholed into any of these categories. Sculpture, photography, objects, new media, and performance joyfully collide in his work. The diversion from a thing’s original purpose becomes liberation; double meanings become a method. Even a title like “You Cannot Stand Here” is at once an instruction, a contradiction, and an invitation to move.
The LUPINALE theme “Turning Point: Upheavals and Glimmers of Hope” does not need to be retroactively applied to his works. The upheaval begins the moment a key fails to open its lock. Discarded objects take on new roles; firmly established meanings begin to waver. And perhaps that is precisely where the ray of hope lies: the world can still be changed—if not with the right key, then with another.
Exhibition opening: September 18, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: September 18 through October 17, 2026
As part of KUNST HEUTE: October 3–11, 2026
Kunsthaus Lübz – Center for Circular Art
Kirchenstraße 20, 19386 Lübz
Hours: Friday and Saturday, 3–7 p.m.; Sunday, 1–5 p.m.
Admission is free.
