Thomias Radin | Echoes of KA | Esther Schipper | 13.03.–18.04.2026

Esther Schipper Berlin is delighted to announce “Echoes of KA”, an exhibition by Thomias Radin featuring brand-new paintings and several sculptural works. This marks Radin’s fourth project with the gallery, following his exhibitions in Paris and Seoul, as well as a presentation in Berlin between 2025 and 2024, the year he was accepted into the programme.

Deeply influenced by his birthplace, Guadeloupe, and his childhood in France, Radin draws upon multifaceted cultural traditions spanning the Caribbean and Europe in his work. Dance, painting and sculpture intertwine in his works. His paintings, often set in hand-carved wooden frames, feature motifs – including angels, architectural forms, marble and water – that reflect an engagement with the European visual heritage as well as with ancient Egyptian, Greek and Christian mythologies. Inspired by the ancient Egyptian concept of the Ka – an invisible life force that transcends time and space – Radin’s exhibition traces its journey from Africa via the Caribbean to Europe as an allegorical motif that resonates in music, dance, language and sculpture.

In Creole – a language formed from French, Kikongo and indigenous languages – the verb ‘ka’, borrowed from Kikongo, functions as a marker of action and becoming. In this linguistic context, ‘ka’ suggests movement and continuity across time and space. Vitality is not understood as an isolated force, but as something shared and circulating, capable of transforming itself through bodies and communities. Radin uses this idea as a framework for reflecting on gesture, resonance and collective action.

The exhibition space is conceived as a tranquil courtyard. Two wooden arches flank the entrances to the exhibition and mark transitions. A series of four trompe-l’œil frescoes depicting a seascape creates this setting, and mirrored surfaces mounted on two central columns reflect and multiply the viewer’s presence. Here, the courtyard functions not only as an architectural reference point but also as a social space – a place of encounter, circulation and contemplation. In this way, it reflects Édouard Glissant’s concept of the ‘Creole garden’, in which identity arises through relationships, intersections and exchange, rather than through fixed origins. Radin’s courtyard becomes the spatial expression of this idea: an environment in which echoes reverberate and stories converge.

For this constellation of paintings, Radin’s process revolves around the idea of echo. His method translates metaphysical and spiritual concepts into visual fragments, recalling how Eadweard Muybridge decomposed movement into sequential images. Each fragment functions as a suspended vibration between what has occurred and what continues to resonate. To dance—to activate and articulate the body—is itself an echo of rhythm and frequency. The paintings, often executed in dynamic gestures, present figures caught mid-movement, their poses charged with physical intensity. Movement becomes a vehicle for memory and storytelling, where gesture carries historical and spiritual weight.

Dance is central to Radin’s practice. Music and movement enter his paintings through fragmented bodies, gestural brushwork, and references to Hip Hop, Gwo Ka, and Capoeira. His engagement with Caribbean dance traditions extends to their influence on contemporary choreography, including figures such as Alvin Ailey, Germaine Acogny, and Ismael Ivo, whose practices connect performance with spirituality and political consciousness.

The sculptural works extend this vocabulary into space. Hand-carved and rooted in a family tradition of carpentry practiced over generations, Radin’s structures affirm woodwork as both material inheritance and social model. Architectural elements shape the setting, while bench-like elements invite visitors to sit, contemplate and commune. Part of the bench-like sculptures are oversized dominoes, a recurring motif, that pay tribute to everyday life in Guadeloupe, celebrating vernacular mathematics and the passing of knowledge that forges lasting connections across generations.

Opening: Friday,13. March 2026

Exhibition: Friday, 13. March – Saturday, 18. April 2026

Bildunterschrift Titel: Thomias Radin, Echoes of KA, Esther Schipper, Berlin, 2026. Photo © Andrea Rossetti