Exhibition program 2016

The Deutsche Bank KunstHalle is located in the center of Berlin and has established itself as a platform for international contemporary art. The institution defines itself as a place of discovery—an institution that is as alive and in flux as the German capital itself.

In 2016, the KunstHalle presents an exciting and diverse exhibition program: Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible documents why this milestone painting revolutionized the history of art. After the first institutional solo exhibition by Basim Magdy, Deutsche Bank’s “Artist of the Year” 2016, the collaborative project Common Affairs presents a selection of works created by nominees or winners of the Views Award. The annual program ends with a retrospective of Bhupen Khakhar, who played a central role in modern Indian art.

Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible
Through April 10, 2016

As the largest work that Pollock ever executed, Mural was a vital stepping stone that led the way to the sheer audacity of the poured paintings that he began in 1947. Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible documents why this single work revolutionized the history of art. The exhibition includes further key paintings by Pollock, as well as by artists who were close to him, including Lee Krasner and Robert Motherwell. Also on view are works by artists who subsequently responded to his legacy, such as Andy Warhol, while photographs by Herbert Matter, Barbara Morgan, and Gjon Mili, among others, shed fresh light on Pollock’s vision. Mural was commissioned by Peggy Guggenheim in 1943. The art collector gifted the painting to the University of Iowa Museum of Art in 1948. Since then, it has rarely been shown elsewhere. After an 18-month campaign at the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, Mural is now being presented in its resplendent, newly-cleaned and restored state.

Basim Magdy: Deutsche Bank “Artist of the Year” 2016
April 29–July 3, 2016

Basim Magdy, Deutsche Bank’s “Artist of the Year” 2016, will present his first institutional solo exhibition at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle. The artist, who was born in 1977 in Assiut, Egypt, and now lives in Basel and Cairo, has created a multifaceted oeuvre in recent years that encompasses film, photography, slide projections, installations, and works on paper. At the center of all his works are structures of seeing, remembering, and archiving.

Many of Basim Magdy’s works, which are based on observations of reality, are akin to surreal tales full of cryptic humor. With paintings and assemblies boasting psychedelic-looking colors, the artist investigates collective utopias and formulates his doubts in dogmas and ideologies. At the same time, he appeals to the viewer’s imagination and reveals alternative realities and social blueprints.

Common Affairs
July 21–October 30, 2016

In 2003, the Deutsche Bank and the Zachęta—National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, jointly initiated Poland’s most important art award: the Views Award. Its objective is to promote young artists. Furthermore, the exhibition at the Zachęta connected with the Views Award gives them a high-publicity platform. With the cooperation project “Common Affairs,” Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, the Zachęta National Gallery, and the Polish Institute Berlin jointly present a selection of works created by Views Award nominees or winners, including Tymek Borowski, Robert Kuśmirowski, Anna Molska, Janek Simon, Karol Radziszewski, Rafał Jakubowicz, and Karolina Bregula. By revisiting past Views exhibitions and their commissioned contributions, the invited artists will mainly focus on “updating” the pieces commissioned at that time as well as their artistic practices.

Bhupen Khakhar: You Can’t Please All
November 18, 2016–March 5, 2017

Bhupen Khakhar (1934–2003) played a central role in modern Indian art. After early experiments with Pop Art, he developed a style of painting that combined both high and low, popular and painterly aesthetics, cleverly subverting popular iconography. Khakhar confronted complex and provocative themes with candor: among them, class difference, desire and homosexuality, and his personal battle with cancer. His intuitive understanding of the tensions between beauty and the grotesque resulted in unabashed depictions of human love and desire, weakness and suffering. This exhibition—previously on view at Tate Modern from June 1 through November 6, 2016—will bring together his work from across five decades and from collections around the world. This first posthumous survey of Khakhar’s career will shed new light on his practice by presenting well-known works on canvas and paper alongside rarely seen experimental works including textile, glass, and ceramics. In cooperation with Tate Modern.

More information at deutsche-bank-kunsthalle.com and db-artmag.com—or stay tuned via Facebook.