The exhibition something new, something old, something desired places the Kunsthalle’s important collection of contemporary art in an exciting dialogue with recent acquisitions of the latest works. The themes that come to the fore spotlight the urgent issues of our day: questions of understanding and communication, isolation and marginalisation, power and protest, utopia and structure. At the same time, the show explores (virtual) worlds and realities on the basis of architectural designs while addressing the tension between form and dissolution and focusing attention on the potential for interconnecting material and language.
The exhibition addresses the most pressing and relevant themes of our time: questions of understanding and communication, isolation and demarcation, the use of power and protest, and utopia and structure. It further examines (virtual) worlds and realities on the basis of architectural design, and addresses the tensions between form and dissolution, while demonstrating the potential for connectivity in material and language.
As the exhibition title suggests, many new additions to the collection – including new acquisitions as well as donations – are presented for the first time (something new); important works from the collection since the 1960s are re-examined through dialogue with more recent contemporary artworks (something old); and highly sought-after works are integrated into the exhibittion (something desired). The result is an exciting installation in which diverse aspects of contemporary art converge in thematic groups, making unexpected encounters possible.
Participating artists: Etel Adnan, Jan Albers, Fernando de Brito, Günter Brus, Nina Canell, Robert Cottingham, Stephen Craig, Jose Dávila, Edith Dekyndt, Thomas Demand, Simon Denny, Cordula Ditz, Peter Doig, Simon Fujiwara, Seiichi Furuya, Zvi Goldstein, Anna Grath, Christian Haake, Raymond Hains, Almut Heise, David Hockney, Karl Horst Hödicke, Annika Kahrs, Annette Kelm, Jürgen Klauke, Hans-Jürgen Kleinhammes Bernd Koberling, Jan Köchermann, Jannis Kounellis, Jens Lausen, Jean Leppien, Almut Linde, Axel Loytved, Paul McCarthy & Mike Kelley, Annette Messager, Gerold Miller, Simon Modersohn, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Cady Noland, Sigmar Polke, Tobias Putrih, Hannah Rath, Daniel Richter, Gerhard Richter, Grit Richter, Thomas Schütte, Richard Serra, Sara Sizer, Andreas Slominski, Paul Spengemann, Pia Stadtbäumer, Paul Thek, Wolfgang Tillmans, Philippe Vandenberg and Tilman Walther
>> Click here to see the interview with Anna Grath and curator Dr Brigitte Kölle
