Helmut Takes Hanover With Solo Show

8/29/08: This article has been updated with a preview of images from the show.

As we recently reported, Helmut Lang's legacy still has a strong presence on the runways—and it turns out that his influence is set to extend beyond the realm of fashion. Since his indefinite leave in 2005, Lang has made the transformation from designer to artist, and will be unveiling his first institutional solo exhibition on August 31 as part of Germany's "Hanover Goes Fashion" festival.

Although exhibitions dedicated to fashion designers are now de rigueur, this one won't involve any of the skinny suits and techno fabrics for which Lang became famous. Rather, he has created a number of large-scale installations and sculptures, bringing together various "objects and possibilities" that explore the tension between our private and public lives.

It's a fitting theme for an artist who has devoted so much of his life to fashion—one of the main ways in which a person externalizes their innermost identity and aspirations. "I'm expressing what's important to me with the appropriate form, content and context, through different media and other dimensions," says Lang, who considers his most recent body of work to be a natural progression. If there's anyone who still thinks fashion and art inhabit different planets, Lang's exhibition—combined with the fashion-centric shows taking place simultaneously at nine other Hanover cultural institutions—will probably make it a lot more difficult for them to argue their case.

For more inofrmation: Alles Gleich Schwer, Helmut Lang, will be on view Aug 31 - Nov 2 at the kestnergesellschaft and on www.absolut.com/helmutlang from Sept 30 - Dec 31.

—Erin Magner