Nadine Lohof (b. 1987 in Kassel, DE) presents her first solo exhibition Werkzeug with Ruttkowski;68 in Düsseldorf.

As something that concentrates intention while remaining fundamentally ambivalent, tools can care for and injure, shape and damage; they inscribe marks, cut into surfaces, smear, and leave traces that cannot be fully undone.

Lohoff’s paintings depict figures caught in transient situations: children, costumed bodies, ambiguous beings that evade fixed identity. Laughter recurs as a central motif, oscillating between warmth and aggression, intimacy and derision. Bared teeth, exaggerated gestures, and heightened expressions never settling into clarity. Soft pastel tones and gently worked surfaces lend the paintings an immediate, almost inviting quality, while subtle disruptions emerge on a closer look. The scenes remain fragmentary, allowing absence and implication to resonate as strongly as what is shown.

The installation Alphatools casts axes in chocolate, translating the painterly exploration of trace, violence, and seduction into tangible form. Chocolate, both sensual and alluring, carries the promise of pleasure, yet it also exposes the persistence of marks: when one tries to wipe away a stain, the residue remains, hinting at mess, a touch, or bodily traces. Imprints linger, scents endure – and ideals of cleanliness and smoothness prove fragile.

The exhibition explores the enduring presence of traces, showing how efforts to remove marks only reaffirm their persistence. In this sense, Werkzeug situates itself firmly in the present, addressing the tension between agency and exposure, and what continues to resonate beyond inital intention.