Kulturforum, Neue Nationalgalerie: Zerreißprobe. Art between Politics and Society 1945 – 2000 Collection of the National Gallery | 18.11.2023-28.09.2025

The art of the second half of the 20th century is characterised by a diversity of materials, media and methods. At the same time, hardly any other era was so marked by division and turmoil, but also by renewal: “Zerreißprobe. Art between Politics and Society” is the title of this collection presentation of the Neue Nationalgalerie on art after 1945 up to the turn of the millennium. Holocaust and war, awakening and emancipation, Cold War and the fall of the Wall led to tensions within society as well as to fundamental realignments in the visual arts. The title is based on the radical performance by the Viennese actionist Günter Brus in 1970, in which he exposed himself to the pull of steel cables to his physical limits. 14 chapters take up central artistic and social themes of the 20th century, such as the question of realism and abstraction, politics and society, everyday life and pop, feminism, identity or nature and ecology.

Fig. above: Wolfgang Mattheuer: Brasker Landschaft, 1967, National Museums in Berlin, New National Gallery, Photo: Roman März

The exhibition shows paintings, objects, photographs and video works from the Federal Republic and the GDR, Western Europe and the USA as well as artistic developments from the former socialist states. On display are works of Art Informel, US colour field painting, 1970s realism, Pop and Minimal Art as well as Conceptual Art by artists such as Marina Abramović, Joseph Beuys, Francis Bacon, Lee Bontecou, Rebecca Horn, Valie Export, Wolfgang Mattheuer, Louise Nevelson, Bridget Riley, Pippilotti Rist and Andy Warhol. The presentation is complemented by works by female artists such as Kiki Kogelnik or Ewa Partum, who have not been represented in the collection of the Nationalgalerie until now.

A catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition.

Curated by Joachim Jäger, Deputy Director Neue Nationalgalerie, Maike Steinkamp, Research Associate Neue Nationalgalerie, and Marta Smolińska, Professor of Art History at Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznań.

WHERE?

Kulturforum, New National Gallery
Potsdamer Street 50
10785 Berlin

WHEN?

Tuesday – Wednesday, 10:00-18:00,
Thursday, 10:00-20:00,
Friday – Sunday, 10:00-18:00 hrs

Monday closed