Hamburger Bahnhof

A-Z. The Marzona Collection

28 Jan 2014 - 31 Aug 2016

Stephen Kaltenbach
ART WORKS, 1968
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Sammlung Marzona / Marcus Schneider
A-Z. THE MARZONA COLLECTION
23 January 2014 - 31 August 2016

Curator: Lisa Marei Schmidt, Education and outreach: Daniela Bystron

The exhibition of the collection entitled "A-Z. The Marzona Collection"is a celebration of the conceptual art of the 1960s and 1970s and illustrates the contemporary relevance of works from this era. The presentation spans the next two and a half years and features the collection of Egidio Marzona, which primarily consists of works of American and European conceptual art, Minimal Art, and Arte Povera.
The letters of the alphabet offer the basis for a versatile and consistently varied approach to the diverse works in the Marzona Collection. The semiotic structure of the alphabet is used to highlight ideas inherent to the works exhibited and provides a stringent yet open-ended format for the exhibition program. Individual artistic positions, important historical exhibitions, and artistic genres are examined. The presentation is altered every quarter of a year in keeping with the sequence of the alphabet. Beginning with the letter A, the first room offers a look at the Italian movement of Arte Povera - an emphasis of the collection -with works by Mario Merz, Alighiero Boetti, and Guiseppe Penone. The second room of the exhibition is dedicated to the letter B and presents an installation by the French artist Daniel Buren, which has not yet been shown in Berlin. Finally, the letter C addresses the exhibition catalogue as an artistic medium through C. 7500, the title of an exhibition curated by Lucy Lippard in 1973. The approach to the Marzona Collection is thus conceived in a manner as varied, playful, and experimental as the art of the 1960s and 1970s.
Next to the three rooms of the exhibition is an active archive space, the "Büro" (or office), where additional information is on view. An accompanying program of workshops, lectures, and performances as well as the first of a four part intervention by artist Ruth Buchanan reflect on and supplement the presentation of the collection
 

Tags: Alighiero Boetti, Ruth Buchanan, Daniel Buren, Mario Merz