Dorothea Lasky

Roses

March 21 – June 14 2026
Opening: Friday, March 20, 19:00

The Schaufenster am Hofgarten will present the poem Roses by the American poet Dorothea Lasky alongside its German translation by the artist Vera Lutz. The poem is selected from Lasky’s forthcoming volume, Flowers, which will be published this year by Jason Dodge’s poetry press 500places. 

Installed as a luminous text in the garden-facing window visible from the Hofgarten at all hours, it meets the city without mediation. It addresses passersby as much as intentional visitors, entering the flow of daily movement while remaining available to sustained attention.

Through the German translation by the artist Vera Lutz, the poem acquires a second voice that subtly shifts its rhythm and inflection. Suspended between languages and between interior and exterior, it unfolds through repetition and return: encountered at a glance, reread in passing, or absorbed almost unconsciously. Over time, the text may come to be encountered less as an object of attention than as a quiet presence, registering differently with distance, light, and time.

The presentation of Roses is the first installment in a new Schaufenster-series conceived by Jason Dodge, editor of 500 Places. For each exhibition chapter, Dodge presents a poem, selected in collaboration with the institution, from volumes that will appear later this year. In this way, new writing enters public space ahead of its publication, unfolding gradually over the course of the program.