Exhibition program 2019

The new year starts with a thought-provoking exhibition presenting the late oeuvre of Austrian sculptor Bruno Gironcoli (February 14–May 12, 2019). As if derived from a theater of the absurd or a surreal dream world, his monumental objects seem to be prototypes for a new species, enveloped in shining, seductive surfaces of gold, silver, and copper.

A Journey Through Mud and Confusion with Small Glimpses of Air is the title of an exhibition of Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg (February 28–May 26, 2019). With some 40 video and sound works from the past two decades the Swedish artist duo’s oeuvre is on view for the first time in Germany in an extensive survey. The artists let their figures step into action in isolated places, in the forest, in a cave, a chamber, or on a stage, where they are driven by an unconscious inner longing or experience painful, sometimes even comical situations. The artists take visitors to the exhibition on a journey into the interior of humankind—with films that resemble absurd dreams and suppressed memories and explore the limits of what is humanly tolerable in a dense atmosphere. The exhibition is produced by Moderna Museet, Stockholm in collaboration with MART, Rovereto, and Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

In summer, Swiss concept, performance and object artist John M. Armleder will develop new, expansive installations especially for the exhibition Circa, Circa (June 7–September 1, 2019), that he will present both in and outside of the Schirn.

At the same time, the Schirn is dedicating an exhibition to sound in contemporary art. The group show Big Orchestra (June 19–September 8, 2019) features international artists and will present artworks that also perform as musical instruments by Doug Aitken, Nevin Aladağ, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Carlos Amorales, Tarek Atoui, Guillermo Galindo, Hans van Koolwijk, Constantin Luser, Christian Marclay, Caroline Mesquita, Rie Nakajima, Carsten Nicolai, Pedro Reyes, Naama Tsabar, and David Zink Yi. For the duration of the show, the Schirn will become a temporary concert hall in which the works are activated and visitors can experience their sound live. The artists will demonstrate their own works in performances.

With her monumental tapestries the artist Hannah Ryggen created a powerful, political inspired oeuvre, working from a small self-sufficient farm on the west coast of Norway. On the occasion of Norway’s turn as Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019, the Schirn is dedicating the artist a major monographic exhibition (September 26, 2019–January 12, 2020) that will provide the first in-depth insight into her oeuvre to the German public. The presentation aims to explore how Ryggen represents a different kind of modernism. She explored an entirely new range of motifs while using a traditional medium for an unprecedented purpose: making portable murals that communicated her potent political messages to the public. Hannah Ryggen’s works resonate in our time of increasing inequality, nationalism, and strongmen, and are an uncanny reminder of the need to fight for the principles of humanism.

Highlight of the year is the major retrospective of Lee Krasner—a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism in the United States (October 11, 2019–January 12, 2020). After more than 50 years, her work will once again be on view in Europe in a major retrospective. The Schirn is presenting nearly 100 works, including paintings, collages, and drawings as well as films and photographs, and will tell the story of one of the most single-minded artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition includes works from Krasner’s entire oeuvre, which spans more than half a century, and assembles loans from international public and private collections. The exhibition is curated and organised by Barbican Centre, London in collaboration with Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern and the Guggenheim, Bilbao.

Also in 2019 national and international film and video artists will personally present in the Double Feature series a work from their own oeuvre, followed by a film of their choice—on the last Wednesday of every month.

You will find the complete annual program of the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt here.

Director: Dr. Philipp Demandt
Press contact: Pamela Rohde (Head of Press/Public Relations):
presse [​at​] schirn.de / T +49 69 29 98 82 148
Press material: www.schirn.de (texts, images, and films can be downloaded under PRESS)