Olaf Metzel is one of the most prominent contemporary artists active today in Germany. His body of work includes large sculptural installations in the public sphere, as well as small-scale, refined works, bold drawings, and reliefs composed of silkscreen prints on thin sheets of twisted metal. Olaf Metzel’s solo exhibition at the Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod, features works that were created by the artist through a dialogue with the museum building. During a preparatory visit to Ein Harod and to Israel, Metzel focused on subjects ranging from the thinking of Hannah Arendt and Susan Sontag to his impressions from the Bauhaus buildings lining Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. This exhibition centers on an installation work created by Metzel for one of the museum’s main galleries and on a selection of drawings, as well as on additional works created following his initial visit to Israel. Metzel responds not only to his physical or architectural surroundings, but also to the social or political environment. His spatial works engage in an in-depth dialogue that refers to a wide range of social, urban, religious, and historical contexts. Olaf Metzel seeks to stimulate in the viewer a higher degree of awareness; for him, the open sphere of discourse and the challenge to what seems obvious are the essence of contemporary art. In engaging with sociological, inter-cultural, and political concerns, Metzel positions his work at the heart of contemporary public discourse. Since the 1980s, Metzel’s works have been exhibited at Documenta in Kassel, as well as in numerous important international exhibitions, including, most recently, the 2017 Istanbul Biennial. His works are included in public and private collections in Europe and the United States.