2019
Walking Through Walls
12 September 2019 to 19 January 2020
Walking Through Walls marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most symbolic events of the 20th century, interrogating the experience of vulnerability and anxiety caused by power structures that thrive on confinement and segregation.
Wu Tsang
There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody
4 September 2019 to 12 January 2020
Wu Tsang’s solo exhibition There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody presents films in dialogue with her sculptural practice, working with the interaction of glass, light and text, and including a new stained glass commission conceived for the Gropius Bau.
Garden of Earthly Delights
26 July to 1 December 2019
The exhibition Garden of Earthly Delights sees over 20 international artists using the space of the garden as a metaphor for the state of the world, in an exploration of the complexities of our chaotic and increasingly precarious present.
Bani Abidi
They Died Laughing
6 June to 22 September 2019
Bani Abidi is known for her distinctive approach to filmmaking, which derives from the dark absurdities of everyday life. The exhibition They Died Laughing is an extensive presentation of Abidi’s works, bringing together moving image and print-based works that span two decades.
The Black Image Corporation
Theaster Gates
25 April to 28 July 2019
With The Black Image Corporation, Theaster Gates has conceived a participatory exhibition which explores the fundamental legacy of Johnson Publishing Company archives. Featuring more than four million images, they have contributed to shape the aesthetic and cultural languages of African American identity.
Ladies on Paper
Recent Works by Vaginal Davis
12 June to 21 July 2019
Ladies on Paper. Recent Works by Vaginal Davis is the first institutional presentation of Vaginal Davis’ paintings in Berlin. Over a period of six weeks, six different recent portraits will be shown successively in single hangings. Taken from a series of works created over the last two years, the paintings depict six different public figures from the worlds of art, film and literature.
Museum in My Head
Artist Books – Walther König Bookshop
22 March to 16 June 2019
The artist book as an art object in and of itself: Under the title of Museum in My Head, the Walther König Bookshop has curated an exhibition of artist books which focus on collecting and archiving a the Gropius Bau.
And Berlin Will Always Need You
Art, Craft and Concept Made in Berlin
22 March to 16 June 2019
The group show And Berlin Will Always Need You explores the concept of crafts and handmade processes in Berlin’s contemporary art scene, taking its history as a former museum for decorative arts and educational institution as a starting point.
Lee Bul: Crash
29 September 2018 to 13 January 2019
Lee Bul is one of the most important Korean artists of her generation, having received significant international recognition for her formally inventive and intellectually provocative work. From 29 September 2018 to 13 January 2019, the Gropius Bau presents Crash, her first solo exhibition in Germany. This comprehensive survey is the first exhibition Stephanie Rosenthal has curated as the new director of the Gropius Bau.
Werkschau ist die erste von Stephanie Rosenthal kuratierte Ausstellung als neue Direktorin des Gropius Bau.
Lee Bul, „Willing To Be Vulnerable“, 2015–2016, Exhibition view “Crashing” Hayward Gallery, 2018
Photo: Maxie Fischer, photo courtesy: Gropius Bau
Gurlitt: Status Report
An Art Dealer in Nazi Germany
14 September 2018 to 7 January 2019
News that the Bavarian Public Prosecutor’s office had seized the art collection of Cornelius Gurlitt (1932–2014), caused a national and international sensation when it was made public in November 2013. Spanning a wide range of eras and styles – from Dürer to Monet and from Cranach to Kirchner and Rodin – the exhibition presents works that have been hidden from public view for decades and provides an insight into the current state of the investigation of the Gurlitt trove.
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), Crouching Woman, ca. 1882. Marble, www.lostart.de/521802
Kunstmuseum Bern, Legat Cornelius Gurlitt 2014, Photo: Albrecht Fuchs © Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH
Restless Times
Archaeology in Germany
21 September 2018 to 6 January 2019
Through spectacular new archaeological finds, and fresh perspectives on old ones, the exhibition reveals an unparalleled network of cultural interaction existing in Europe from earliest times to the recent past. Mobility, conflict, exchange and innovation – their origins, effects and interconnections – have always shaped coexistence in Europe.
Himmelscheibe. Oldest European representation of the night sky, found in 1999 by illegal amateur treasure hunters at Mittelberg, Sachsen-Anhalt
© Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, photo: Juraj Lipták