Against the Current

With works by Bas Jan Ader, Kader Attia, Björk, stanley brouwn, Daniele Cudini, Jack Goldstein, Rodney Graham, Kris Martin, Bruce Nauman, Roman Ondák, Panamarenko, Peter Piller, Anne Pöhlmann, Daniel Richter, Thomas Ruff, Melanie Smith, Javier Téllez, James Webb, and Lawrence Weiner

Everything happens for the first time on a journey.
–Matthias Politycki, 2017

The exhibition Against the Current. Journey into the Unknown will present international positions in contemporary art that engage with travel as an existential gamble. Every departure entails risks, is a revolt against the old and the familiar, against the persistent powers that hold us back or restrain us. The beginning of every journey presupposes a break with the everyday. It requires a strong impulse, from within or without, to abandon the life lived so far, at least for a time, and set out on a new path—in spite of all obstacles and an uncertain outcome.

Departures on journeys unrelated to the leisure industry, the impulse to set off into unknown territory without knowing whether you will return, if at all, as the same person, have been motivated in very different ways. They may be spurred by a desire for adventure, an urge to know, sheer curiosity or the need for self-determination and self-discovery, or they may be driven by a lack of orientation or forced by poverty, war or socio-political circumstances. The central motif of the works on show in the exhibition revolves around the decisive moment of the new beginning that is already inherent in the departure.

On a journey, the familiar and the alien merge, travelers overcome borders and build bridges. Once they have left the restrictive order of their homeland, precise knowledge of the goal is of no great importance. Movement itself becomes the new medium of perception. The passage alters both mind-set and consciousness, expanding the horizon of knowledge and experience. And the way ahead promises unexpected possibilities, which artists in particular have always sought and used as catalysts for their work. Venturing into the unknown opens up space for imagination and creativity. And viewers are challenged to bring their own experiences and thoughts into the process.

With the artists in this exhibition, Museum Morsbroich is setting out on a new stage in a long journey that was proceeded by the foundation of the museum in post-war Germany in 1951, itself a pioneering departure, and that has been accompanied since then by countless art-loving companions. It shares with travelers the experience that uncertainty is fundamentally associated with the future, and that progress is only possible when one dares to venture out again and again into new terrain.

Curators of the exhibition are Fritz Emslander and Stefanie Kreuzer.

To accompany the exhibition a book is published in the form of an “A to Z” guide for travelers through the exhibition and beyond. It will contain introductory texts on the works on show as well as brief texts on keywords ranging from A(ufbruch: departure) to Z(ukunft: future).

Graphics Floor:
Georg Baselitz. Heulende Hunde. Druckgrafik 1964-2017
through March 4, 2018

Along with the Journey into the Unknown, Museum Morsbroich is showing a major exhibition of graphic works by Georg Baselitz, partly from its own collection.