KAFKA: 1924

To mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Kafka, the Museum VILLA STUCK pays tribute to the writer’s unending relevance and extraordinary power with a large-scale exhibition featuring contemporary artists. In addition to shaping generations of writers throughout the world, Kafka’s work has had an impact on numerous other fields of art and become part of our collective memory.

The exhibition presents works by twentieth- and twenty-first century artists that explicitly or implicitly reference Kafka. Shame and many other themes associated with Kafka’s work have, in fact, outlived the writer and, as “Kafkaesque,” taken on an everlasting and universally valid life of their own. Wherever fear, despair, eerie and claustrophobic conditions, bureaucratic constraints, and abuse of power prevail, the thought of Kafka is never far away. This has offered significant stimuli for many artists, who are the focus of this exhibition.

Thematically and spatially, the presentation is conceived in such a way that the works complement one another. New perspectives keep opening up and turn the tour into a space of experience. Going beyond the educated middle-class perception of Kafka, the exhibition is aimed at a broad audience. Excerpts from Kafka for Beginners, the classic graphic novel by Robert Crumb and David Zane Mairowitz, provide an entertaining and informative introduction to each of the themes and bring out different sides of the individual protagonists of Kafka’s writings.

The exhibition includes work by the following artists: Ida Applebroog, Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, David Claerbout, Robert Crumb, Robert Gober, Rodney Graham, Andreas Gursky, Mona Hatoum, Roni Horn, Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler, Tetsuya Ishida, Sebastian Jung, Franz Kafka, Konrad Klapheck, Alfred Kubin, Maria Lassnig, Via Lewandowsky, David Zane Mairowitz, Margot Pilz, Paula Rego, Germaine Richier, David Rych, Anri Sala, Heidrun Sandbichler, Thomas Schütte, Chiharu Shiota, Michael Sommer, Ignacio Uriarte, Maja Vukoje, Jeff Wall, Franz Wanner, Cathy Wilkes

An exhibition by the Museum VILLA STUCK, curated by Dr. Helena Pereña. #Kafka1924MVS.