Kabinettstücke: Richter/Polke - Umwandlung

09/03 - 14/07/2024

The exhibition Kabinettstück Richter/Polke – Umwandlung (Cabinet Piece Richter/Polke – Transformation) presents early print graphic works by the two significant German artists Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke, who met in 1962 at the Düsseldorf Academy. Starting from the collaborative work Umwandlung (Transformation), created in 1968, the exhibition explores to what extent change as a design element is significant in the work of both artists and how it challenges the perceptual structures of the viewers. The works are linked by a multi-layered, often ambiguous working method and the reflected contemplation of the meaning of the image and its representation. In addition, Richter addresses different visual techniques, such as optical illusion or manipulation, which make the limitations of perception and the possibility of knowledge visible. Thus, they simultaneously confront the viewer with their own imperfection. Polke’s works, on the other hand, appear like random comments on art and society, often carried by wit and irony, and their often strangely appearing text-image combinations serve as a design element to irritate perception.