Kunst und Politik – Auseinandersetzungen und Koexistenz
Otto Dix, Hannah Höch, Günther Uecker, Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Antoni Rayzhekov
Kuratorin: Maria Vassileva
Why would a contemporary art gallery take an interest in displaying military-themed etchings from the second decade of the 20thcentury?
The answer seems more and more obvious in the current times of social tension, political unrest and pandemics. The brutal truthfulness in the works of Otto Dix, the artistic approach that leaves no one indifferent, the grotesque images making us experience the horrors of war without being exposed to it, turn these works into a permanent alarm call. A reminder not only of the fierce clashes on the frontline, but also of all aberrations of the modern world, which keep on happening despite our cumulative historical experience.
We decided to supplement Otto Dix’s series Der Krieg (The War) with a small selection of works by other outstanding German artists, who have always kept their finger on the pulse of society: Hannah Höch, Joseph Beuys, Günther Uecker and Gerhard Richter.
To give it all a more contemporary flavour, the show will also feature Antoni Rayzhekov’s piece Pandemic sound card, 2020, inspired by the Coronavirus situation and the possible manipulations threatening our civil freedoms.