April 4–August 4, 2019
Monument im Fruchtland 3
3000 Bern
Switzerland
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm
In spring 2019, the Zentrum Paul Klee dwells on ecstasy—one of the oldest and most astonishing cultural phenomena—and its representations and manifestations in modern and contemporary art.
A desire for moments of intense pleasure and passion is a universal feature of human existence. The amount of cultural, social and religious rituals and practices that seek to bring about ecstasy, or translate ecstatic states of being into words, images, music or bodily expressions is practically endless. This exhibition highlights the intensity and ambivalence of ecstatic experiences and showcases exceptional work by artists like Marlene Dumas, Meret Oppenheim, Auguste Rodin, Henri Michaux, Andy Warhol and Paul Klee in surprising juxtapositions. The works of these artists explore ecstasy as a bodily and physical state of exception, situated at the threshold between pleasure and pain, creativity and madness, spiritual transcendence and physical self-destruction, liberation and dependency, life and death.
A collaboration between the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and the Zentrum Paul Klee.
Exhibition catalogue
A publication in conjunction with the exhibition will be in both English and German: EKSTASE / ECSTASY
Ed. Ulrike Groos, Markus Müller, Anne Vieth, Martin Waldmeier and Nina Zimmer, Publisher Prestel: Munich 2019
Curator
Martin Waldmeier, Curator Zentrum Paul Klee
With generous support of
Kanton Bern, Burgergemeinde Bern and Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Prtner art mediation
Die Mobiliar
Contact
Maria-Teresa Cano
Head of Communication and Public Relations Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee
press@zpk.org, T +41 31 328 09 44
