Asta Gröting: A Wolf, Primates and a Breathing Curve

The multifaceted work of German artist Asta Gröting (b. 1961) is defined by intimacy and closeness. Originally and still working as a sculptor, she has expanded her artistic practice to include film and video. The Städel Museum presents a solo exhibition of the artist’s work, in which she renders the invisible visible by focusing on processes that often go unnoticed in everyday life, as well as on interpersonal relationships. 

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum: “Asta Gröting’s films reveal the visual poetry of our everyday lives through precise observation and give space to the hidden. The Städel has owned the sculptural work We, We, We, You, You, I (1994) by the artist since 2019. With this exhibition, we are deliberately placing an emphasis on the artist’s video art. Gröting’s work represents an artistic practice that addresses social and existential issues in a multilayered way. Her video art explores the boundaries between staging and everyday life by developing traditional narrative forms further. It thus ideally complements the profile of the Collection of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum.”

The exhibition A Wolf, Primates and a Breathing Curve presents eight works created between 2015 and 2025, including seven video works and one laser projection specially developed for the exhibition. This selection enables visitors to experience the fluid transitions between nature and culture, intimacy and distance, the familiar and the foreign. The videos capture or stage moments from Gröting’s own environment and human existence. Her deliberate manipulation of time lends the works a particular intensity. The films are more than visual representations of our environment: they open up contemplative spaces that encourage reflection on the intricacies of hidden relationships and their dynamics.

“In her work, Asta Gröting focuses on things that often escape our attention, such as subtle gestures of everyday life, empty spaces and the relationships between humans and animals. The works on display are based on precise observations, in which the artist shifts meanings and condenses sensations. Gröting’s intense video works focus on the seemingly invisible, as well as on psychological processes, rendering them tangible for viewers. Her concentrated reflections question our communication, our environment, and our perception. Without providing clear answers, she creates an open space for personal feelings,” adds Svenja Grosser, Head of Contemporary Art at the Städel Museum and curator of the exhibition.

Through her work, Gröting shows how art can act as a medium for interpersonal connections by capturing intimate and intense encounters. Her sensitive translation of captivating moments into moving images invites viewers to explore the subtle, often hidden liminal states of existence, and experience the poetry of the moment anew. Highlights of the exhibition include the work Breathing Curve (2025), created especially for the exhibition, and the premiere of her latest video work, Matthias, Helge and Asta (2025), featuring Matthias Brandt, Helge Schneider and Asta Gröting herself as protagonists.

Director: Dr Philipp Demandt   
Curator: Svenja Grosser (Head of Contemporary Art, Städel Museum)
Project Manager: Gioia Mattner (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Städel Museum)
Press contact: Franziska von Plocki, Elisabeth Pallentin and Carolin Fuhr 
presse@staedelmuseum.de / T (+49 69) 605098 268
Press material: newsroom.staedelmuseum.de/en (texts and images for download)