04 Feb 2012

Neues Museum in Nuremberg: The Irrational in Art

Gespenster, Magie und Zauber
Konstruktionen des Irrationalen in der Kunst von Füssli bis heute
18th November 2011 – 26th February 2012


Joseph Beuys, Anna & Bernhard Blume, Ulla von Brandenburg, Lili Fischer, Tobias Gerber, Christian Jankowski, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer, Thomas Schütte, Nina von Seckendorff, Antoni Tàpies, Miwa Yanagi, Johann Heinrich Füssli und Shakespeares Welt der Geister; Goethe und der Faust-Stoff; Gabriel von Max und der Spiritismus; Japanische Gespenstergeschichten im Ukiyo-e; Zaubervogel und Seegespenst – Alfred Kubin; Prinzhorn Sammlung; Paul Klee: Geister-luft-Zug

You repeatedly come across them, those themes of the irrational and uncanny scenery, and that includes very contemporary, very young art, too. 'Tischrücken' in Sigmar Polke's case, 'Grosse Geister' in Thomas Schütte's oeuvre, or fortunetelling by Christian Jankowski. Artists concern themselves with the phenomena of materializations, levitations or psychic mediums and telekinesis. So from what do themes such as ghostlike apparitions, witches, enchantment and magic phenomena in art derive? This exhibition highlights how such representations arise and what structures underlie a seemingly supernatural and supersensory repertoire of images. Alongside contemporary positions there are seven glances back at the history of art, as far back as Johann Heinrich Füssli or the Japanese representations of ghosts in Ukiyo-e, the tradition of the figure of master sorcerer Faust or Gabriel von Max and the spirit cult of the turn of the 20th century. In a dialog between contemporary art and works from other centuries, the exhibition offers and overview of 130 works by a good 40 artists and focuses firmly on the traditions and intellectual context of such irrational subject matter.

Curator: Melitta Kliege

A catalogue has been published with Verlag für moderne Kunst with contributions from Ulrike Hammad, Melitta Kliege, Petra Maisak, Angelika Nollert, Thomas Röske, Osamu Okuda, Maike Teubner, Christine Walter, Merle Walter

Related programs

Magic Performance
Ross Moreno
Magic Moments: A Conceptual Journey
Thursday, 1 December 2011, 7pm

Lectures
Dr. Christine Walter
Tuesday, 13 December 2011, 7pm

Prof. Dr. Walter von Lucadou
Thursday, 26 January, 7 pm

Dr. Petra Maisak
Thursday, 23rd February, 7 pm

Guided tours by the exhibition curator Dr. Melitta Kliege
Thursday, 23 November 2011, 5pm
Thursday, 16th February, 6 pm