THE PROBLEM OF GOD
26 September 2015–24 January 2016
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
K21 STÄNDEHAUS
Ständehausstr. 1
40217 Düsseldorf
Germany
T +0049 211 8381 204
F +0049 211 8381 209
service [at] kunstsammlung.de
The exhibition THE PROBLEM OF GOD explores the multifaceted and ambivalent ways used by contemporary artists to incorporate elements of Christian iconography, which are omnipresent in our collective visual and textual memory. A remarkable number of these artworks resist a straightforward reading of Christian signs and symbols through complex narratives and images in which the artists engage with Christian motifs and themes in a differentiated and profound manner.
For some years now, there has been talk of a return of the religious in art. Without doubt, religion is a theme that can be found everywhere in today’s politics and media—not so much as a theological movement, but as a socio-political phenomenon. Even outside of the church, Christian ethical values still continue to define views on many social issues in our socio-political system; they are an undeniable part of our culture and history.
The focus of the exhibition will be on artworks that reflect critically on Christian images and themes transforming and transposing them by giving them new substance, or by combining them with new visual aesthetic practices. The themes of these works can range anywhere from life’s existential questions—and philosophical and spiritual challenges—to a humorous and critical engagement with certain aspects of religion and faith, the investigation of certain pictorial traditions in art history, as well as themes relating to today’s society and politics.
The works of the exhibition will consist primarily of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, videos and films, as well as complex installations—some created especially for this exhibition—from the last 25 years. Selected works represent major directions in art history from 1950 to 1980 and serve as important points of reference for contemporary artworks.
On display will be selected works by such artists as Hubert Kiecol, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt and James Turrell. These artists explore how that which cannot be represented or seen can be transformed into something comprehensible through a sublime and transcendental experience. Also included will be works by Francis Bacon, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Gary Hill, Hermann Nitsch, Paloma Varga Weisz and Bill Viola, who address the material and deeply existential aspects of the (Christian) experience of suffering, pain and passion, primarily by drawing on art historical tradition.
Works by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Andrea Büttner and Tacita Dean, meanwhile, focus on the seemingly boundless realm of the Christian belief in miracles and saint stories. By relying on these as sources for their own stories, these artists submit them to critical examination while juxtaposing generally accepted views with their own contemporary readings. In contrast, Katharina Fritsch, Katarzyna Kozyra and Thomas Locher reflect certain motifs based on (religious) pictorial models. By referring to the processes of transformation, reproduction and the circulation of commodities to which these motifs are subjected, they analyze the associated mechanisms of generating meaning and forming identity. Works by artists such as Flavio de Carvalho, Andrew Esiebo, Aernot Mik, Boris Mikhailov and Santu Mofokeng illustrate a socio-political reflection from a broader perspective.
Curator: Isabelle Malz
