Anna Oppermann

The conceptual artist Anna Oppermann (1940–1993) is the author of a significant oeuvre that awaits rediscovery. The exhibition presents her wide-ranging body of work—from early pencil drawings to strongly coloured works in mixed media to one of her last major works. From the late 1960s, Oppermann occupied an important and unique position in the German art scene. Her participation in documenta 6 and 8 in Kassel earned her an international reputation early in her career.

Oppermann’s main work is characterised by the transparency of the creative process and the visualisation of her reflections, which inform her arrangements of notes, drawings, photographs, printed matter and objects. Alongside these visual elements, language forms are another essential component of the artist’s work. The term “ensemble”, which she coined in the early 1970s for her process-based arrangements, encompasses both the installed work and the underlying method of its construction:

“What I call an ensemble is the result of the application of a certain method; it is a documentation of this method and always also an aid that helps us think about further investigations in terms of the method.”

These complex formulations demonstrate Oppermann’s radical understanding of her work: it is open and dialogue-based, the process is immanent. Expansive, complex ensembles, proliferating rhizome-like constellations as well as smaller assemblages invite visitors to immerse themselves in her search for and securing of traces. Oppermann's works oscillate between everyday life and the art world, between mass media and various scientific disciplines, in order to trace the reciprocal conditions and effects between the private and the general, between simplicity and complexity. Anna Oppermann’s works not only give expression to a process of self-questioning, they also represent an “invitation to communicate” about fundamental social and general human issues.

The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Anna Oppermann estate and Galerie Barbara Thumm.

Bundeskunsthalle
Director: Eva Kraus
Managing-Direktor: Oliver Hölken
Curators: Susanne Kleine and Anna Schäffler
Press officer: Sven Bergmann, kommunikation@bundeskunsthalle.de

Also on view
Federal prize for art students
26th National Competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Until January 7, 2024

Everything at Once: Postmodernity, 1967–1992
Until January 28, 2024

Immanuel Kant: Unresolved Issues
Until March 17 2024

Coming soon
Kengo Kuma: Onomatopoeia Architecture
March 8–September 1, 2024

"Images in Mind, Bodies In Space"
Franz Erhard Walther
22 March–July 28, 2024

Interactions 2024
May 1–October 13, 2024

All In! Designing Democracy
May 30–October 13, 2024

Mark Dion: Delirious Toys
September 8, 2024–January 5, 2025

Dance Worlds
September 27, 2024–February 16, 2025

Save Land: United For Land
December 6, 2024–June 9, 2025

For the most up to date schedule, please go to: bundeskunsthalle.de

Opening hours
Tuesday, Thursday–Sunday, and public holidays* 10am–7pm
Wednesday, 10am–9pm. Closed on Mondays.
*also on Mondays

Contact
Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany
Museumsmeile Bonn
Helmut-Kohl-Allee 4
53113 Bonn
T +49 228 9171–200 / info@bundeskunsthalle.de