Hamburger Bahnhof

Wall Works

29 Nov 2013 - 11 Jan 2015

© Sarah Morris, 1972, 2007, design for wall painting
WALL WORKS
29 November 2013 -11 January 2015

Curator: Gabriele Knapstein; Assistant Curator: Uta Caspary

This exhibition in the Rieckhallen introduces an extensive group of wall works that was recently acquired by the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie for the collection of the Nationalgalerie. The pieces were originally developed for "Edition Schellmann" starting in the early 1990s and are based on site-specific engagements by renowned artists working in the contexts of Minimal and Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, Video Art or in postmodern practices. The exhibition presents the wall works in dialogue with other works from the collection of the Nationalgalerie, the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection Im Hamburger Bahnhof, the Marx Collection and the Marzona Collection, as well as new works by artists including Friederike Feldmann, Katharina Grosse and Nasan Tur that were especially created for the occasion of the exhibition.

Against the historical background of the mural, dating back several thousands of years, artists developed murals and wall designs in the early twentieth century, which expanded beyond the frame of a single painting filling entire walls or interior spaces. In the 1960s, transgressive painting and sculpture advanced as part of a general questioning of the conditions in which art is produced, presented, received and traded. In the context of Minimal and Conceptual Art, artists began to examine the "white cube" addressing its walls as part of the exhibition display. Ever since, gallery walls have been used as temporary surfaces for drawings, paintings, film, and text based works and are recognised for their sculptural value. Each work creates - in its unique way - a unity of wall, picture plane and architecture.
 

Tags: Friederike Feldmann, Katharina Grosse, Gabriele Knapstein, Gabriele Knapstein, Nasan Tur