Nov 22, 2025 -March 1, 2026
Clouds and their play in the sky have fascinated people since time immemorial. And so these accumulations of mist in the air have always inspired artists to create impressive works. In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, clouds were primarily used as a symbol of the divine, while in Romanticism and Impressionism they became a central element of atmospheric landscape painting in their own right. Expressionism, in turn, continued the drama of the sky with its own expressive means. In painting as in photography, however, clouds can also provide an opportunity to explore the potential for pictorial abstraction.
This exhibition, in cooperation with Kunsthalle Emden, brings together works from several centuries and comprises more than 40 international positions from Albrecht Dürer to Bjørn Melhus. The paintings, prints, photographs, installations, and video works address various aspects of the cloud motif: from pure observation of nature to symbolic concepts and aesthetic experiments. Since the early 19th century, however, a scientific interest in celestial phenomena has also been reflected in the visual arts. In our present day, this interest is increasingly focused on the threat posed by global warming and climate change.
