Haus Wittgenstein
Ergin Çavuşoğlu: The View from Above
Jon Bird: Wittgenstein’s Ladder

6 May to 23 November 2025 - by appointment

Artists Jon Bird (Wittgenstein’s Ladder) and Ergin Çavuşoğlu (The View from Above) reflect on the Viennese townhouse that philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein designed for his sister, Margarethe, in the 1920s. Selected from their recent exhibitions at Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, these works - anamorphic projections and sculptures (Çavuşoğlu), drawings, collages, and ceramics (Bird) - are their respective responses to the internal dynamics of Haus Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein's only architectural project represented a problem-solving practice of space, place, and subject. The experience contributed significantly to rethinking his theories of language and meaning, from the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investigations. Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s investigations into informal architecture and sculpture, along with Jon Bird’s drawings and collages, serve as visual explorations of the shifting spatial relations, viewpoints, and sightlines that characterise Haus Wittgenstein, a ‘labyrinth of paths.

A leaflet featuring a commissioned essay by Simon Harvey is available on this link.

Click here for the virtual tour

Ergin Çavuşoğlu The View from Above portfolio

Jon Bird Wittgenstein's Ladder portfolio

Ergin Çavuşoğlu (Bulgaria) studied at the National School of Fine Arts, Sofia, Marmara University (BA) Istanbul, Goldsmiths College (MA), and the University of Portsmouth (PhD). Çavuşoğlu co-represented Turkey at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. He was shortlisted for the Beck's Futures Prize in 2004 and for Artes Mundi 4 in 2010.

Jon Bird is an independent curator, artist and writer on contemporary art and visual culture. Among the exhibitions, he has curated are Alfredo Jaar's exhibition at Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna (2019), a major exhibition on Nancy Spero and Kiki Smith for the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England (2003).