The top 5 exhibitions that I haven’t seen but would not like to miss.

Mühlenhaupt trifft Schinkel und Schadow – Mühlenhaupt Museum, Berlin. —

1. Spuk! Leif Geiges‘ photographs.

Shuffling steps in the attic, a carpet becomes a snake, bread rolls fly through the air like swallows … It’s haunted! Or was it all just imagination? Maybe deception or even fraud? Phenomena that violate common sense are often taboo. Nevertheless, they exert an irresistible fascination. In Freiburg they have even been scientifically documented and examined since the 1950s.

The photographer and photo journalist Leif Geiges (1915–1990) worked for many years with the parapsychologist Professor Hans Bender (1907–1991), who taught at the University of Freiburg. He accompanied him to haunted investigations, during which the events described were recreated and photographed. He also illustrated other fields of research such as magical practices, for example the back of glasses, and documented experiments on extra-sensory perception in the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene e. V.

For the first time, the exhibition comprehensively presents the impressive visual material, extracts from which appeared in magazines at the time of its creation. It gives unique insights into a scientific and social field of tension in the post-war period.

„Spökenkiekerin“ – Freiburg, um 1950, Leif Geiges, Archiv des IGPP, Sammlung Leif Geiges —

Until September 26, 2021 in the Augustiner Museum in Freiburg im Breisgau.
https://www.freiburg.de/pb/1666964.html

2. Mühlenhaupt meets Schinkel and Schadow.

Even if I am interested in the work of the Kreuzberger artist Kurt Mühlenhaupt, what is even more exciting about this exhibition is probably the location: The base of the Kreuzberg monument, in Viktoriapark, on Kreuzberg:

On the occasion of the three round birthdays: 100 years of Mühlenhaupt, 100 years of Kreuzberg and 200 years of the National Monument, Mühlenhaupt Museum will be showing an exciting exhibition with works by Kurt Mühlenhaupt, Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Johann Gottfried Schadow in the previously inaccessible basement of the National Monument on the Kreuzberg . The district’s road and green space office has set up a guidance system in the style of pop-up bike paths for corona-friendly visitor guidance within the premises.

In the approximately 1,500 square meter vault, which has been populated by bats in the winter months for decades and mainly serves as an art depot, unusual perspectives emerge: We place the Germanic heroes from the demolished Tiele-Winckler Palace in the Tiergarten opposite and between Mühlenhaupt’s housewife from Blücherstrasse the reliefs of the famous Schadow coin frieze and other almost forgotten treasures of Berlin sculpture, Mühlenhaupt’s scantily clad girls cavort in front of the Victory Column. Cleverly illuminated, there are conversations between characters who at first glance have nothing in common.

For the first time there will also be a re-encounter of a series of large-format paintings, scenes from selected “district paintings” such as Tiergarten, Reinickendorf, Spandau, Wedding, Schöneberg and Steglitz. Kurt Mühlenhaupt painted them in 1979 for the ICC press center – now they are returning to Kreuzberg for a limited period. Born exactly 100 years ago in poor conditions in Berlin, the painter, sculptor, writer and bon vivant is considered a symbol of the Kreuzberg bohemia of the 1960s. As a »painter of love« and the »milieu« he is one of the best-known Berlin artists of the post-war period. The main motifs for him were the “little people” such as cleaning women, waiters, beggars, street sweepers, prostitutes and children playing, which is why Mühlenhaupt was often compared to Zille.

Until August 1, 2021. In the base of the Kreuzberg monument.
https://www.muehlenhaupt.de/veranstaltungen

3. Bruce Conner. Light Out of Darkness.

Bruce Conner (1933–2008) is legendary as much for his critical view of the art world as for his reputation as the father of the video clip. He is one of the outstanding artists of the twentieth century and has even been hailed as an ‘artist’s artist’. The exhibition «Bruce Conner. Light out of Darkness» at Museum Tinguely presents Conner’s experimental films with a representative selection of nine works and will be on view from 5 May to 28 November 2021. Among these is CROSSROADS (1976), a film that assembles footage of the first U.S. underwater atom bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 into a 36-minute study on the horror and sublimity of this apocalyptic event. His work in various media is radical and wide-ranging, at once hauntingly beautiful and horrifyingly bleak; it is political, subversive, and powered by a sensual immediacy that gets under the skin. Many of his early collages, assemblages and installations are made of low-quality, ephemeral materials such as nylon, wax or worn textiles and hence are too fragile to be exhibited except on very rare occasions. Conner’s anarchic stance was defined by his caustic irony, boundless dedication, and insistence on keeping as far away as possible from the art market.

Bruce Conner, A MOVIE, 1958 (Filmstill) 16mm, s/w, Ton, 12 Min. Musik: «The Pines of the Villa Borghese», «Pines Near a Catacomb» und «The Pines of the Appian Way», in Pines of Rome (Pini di Roma) (1923–24), komponiert von Ottorino Respighi, gespielt von NBC Symphony, geleitet von Arturo Toscanini Courtesy Kohn Gallery and Conner Family Trust ​​​​​​​© Conner Family Trust

Until November 28, 2021. Museum Tinguely, Basel.
https://www.tinguely.ch/de/ausstellungen/ausstellungen/2021/bruce-conner.html

4. Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective.

Yayoi Kusama: A retrospective covers almost 3000 m² of key creative periods from over 70 years and includes a number of current works, including a new Infinity Mirror Room.

One of the main concerns of the retrospective is to trace the development of Kusama’s work from early paintings and accumulative sculptures to immersive spaces of experience and, in particular, to work through her previously neglected artistic activity in Germany and Europe.

Until August 15, 2021. Gropius Bau, Berlin.
https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/de/gropiusbau/start.html

5. The world of the Nebra Sky Disc – New Horizons

The State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) is showing the major state exhibition ›The World of the Nebra Sky Disc – New Horizons‹ from June 4, 2021 to January 9, 2022. We present the results of research on the sky disc over the past 20 years in a unique combination of natural science, archeology, social theory and art. New finds and findings from Saxony-Anhalt are supplemented by high-ranking objects, some of which have never been shown in Germany, from over 50 lenders from 14 countries and presented in a tried and tested exclusive design. These include, for example, the golden cape of Mold (Wales), the gold hat of Schifferstadt and rich grave finds from Mycenae. The objects cover a period of 1,400 years of human history and illustrate the wealth and diversity of an era that is closer to us than we previously suspected.

Until January 9, 2022. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle (Saale).
https://www.landesmuseum-vorgeschichte.de/sonderausstellungen/die-welt-der-himmelsscheibe-von-nebra-neue-horizonte/uebersicht.html

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert