Breathing

The world’s first large-scale exhibition on the theme of “breathing” in the art of the Old Masters and the present day looks at the many different facets of the act of breathing and its representation. More than 100 works engage in exciting dialogues, in some cases across the epochs. The result is an unconventional exploration of an existential theme that at first glance seems to be merely an unconscious, biological process but which in fact unfolds myriad social and political dimensions: from breath as a central biblical metaphor and an expression of our relationship to the world, onward to air pollution and respiratory illnesses, all the way to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The exhibition Breathing gives visitors the opportunity to approach the multifaceted theme from a variety of angles and to identify both historical analogies and changing permutations through time in how artists handle this topic. Following Fail Better (2013), Waiting (2017) and Mourning (2020), the show is a further highlight in a series of socially relevant thematic exhibitions at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

Featured artists: Marina Abramović & Ulay, Hendrik Andriessen, Thomas Baldischwyler, Hendrick ter Brugghen, Helen Cammock, Nina Canell, Alice Channer, David Claerbout, Natalie Czech, Johan Christian Dahl, Cornelis Gerritsz. Decker, Lucinda Devlin, Johann Georg von Dillis, Allaert van Everdingen, VALIE EXPORT, Forensic Architecture, Hamburg Master (aka Master Francke), Caspar David Friedrich, Kasia Fudakowski, Bernardino Fungai, Vibha Galhotra, Jacob Gensler, Francisco de Goya, Andreas Greiner, Jeppe Hein, Dutch Masters (18th century), Jenny Holzer, Joachim Koester, Teresa Margolles, Jan van Mieris, Willem van Mieris, Bertram von Minden, Oscar Muñoz, Cornelia Parker, Giuseppe Penone, Dirk Reinartz, Anri Sala, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Godfried Schalcken, Markus Schinwald, Hendrick van Someren, Sebastian Stumpf, David Teniers the Younger, Thomson & Craighead, Lee Ufan, Claude-Joseph Vernet and David Zink Yi

Curators: Brigitte Kölle and Sandra Pisot