Helmut Lang at the Schindler House: Art, Architecture, and the Echoes of Time

Photography by Joshua Schaedel

Los Angeles has long been a city where the past and future collide in a symphony of reinvention. Nowhere is that more evident than in the Helmut Lang exhibition, What remains behind, curated by Neville Wakefield and currently on display at the historic Schindler House through May 4, 2025. This captivating exhibit, presented by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, offers a rare opportunity to witness the intersection of contemporary sculpture and architectural history in a way that feels quintessentially LA Living.

A Meeting of Visionaries: Helmut Lang and R.M. Schindler

The Schindler House, designed in 1922 by Austrian-born architect Rudolph Michael Schindler, stands as a landmark of modernist architecture in Los Angeles. Its radical use of concrete slabs, redwood, and open floor plans make it one of the earliest examples of what would become the Southern California modern aesthetic. Schindler, deeply influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and the European avant-garde, sees architecture as a means of shaping experience rather than merely providing shelter. His Kings Road house has long served as an incubator for progressive ideas in design, social living, and artistic expression.

Enter Helmut Lang, another Austrian visionary who made his mark in fashion before transitioning to the art world. Lang’s sculptural work consistently engages with themes of transformation, memory, and the interplay between presence and absence. His use of discarded materials—mattress foam, rubber, and wax—creates a tangible sense of history embedded in physical form. At the Schindler House, Lang’s pieces inhabit the space like ghostly remnants, drawing attention to both the materiality of the structure and the intangible histories it holds.

Photography by Joshua Schaedel

The Exhibit: Material Memory and Architectural Dialogue

Lang’s sculptures, described as both muscular and vulnerable, currently occupy the minimalist interiors of the Schindler House in a way that feels organic, as though they have always belonged there. The house itself, with its blurred boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces, becomes an active participant in the exhibition. Just as Schindler challenges traditional architectural norms, Lang’s work pushes the boundaries between sculpture and space, object and observer.

Through his use of repurposed materials, Lang evokes a sense of trauma, resilience, and reinvention—an artistic reflection of the broader Los Angeles ethos. In a city built on reinvention, where new identities are crafted and discarded as easily as movie scripts, Lang’s sculptures feel at home. They remind visitors that what we leave behind is just as important as what we create.

Why This is LA Living

To live in Los Angeles is to exist in a space where art, architecture, and identity are in constant negotiation. The Helmut Lang exhibition at the Schindler House is more than just an art show—it is an experience that embodies the essence of LA living. It is about history meeting the present, about space being more than just a backdrop, and about the stories that objects—and people—carry with them.

This exhibition is a must-see for those who appreciate not only contemporary art but also the architectural and cultural fabric of Los Angeles. It serves as a reminder that in this city, the past never truly disappears; it simply reshapes itself into something new, waiting to be discovered once again.

Event Details:

What remains behind by Helmut Lang

Curated by Neville Wakefield

MAK Center at the Schindler House

835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Now through May 4, 2025

Visiting Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM

At this unforgettable exhibition, experience the fusion of past and present, art and architecture, and the unique spirit of LA Living.

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