Ana Mendieta joins the 2018 annual program of the Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin)

Stephanie Rosenthal has taken up the reigns as the new director of the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. She began her tenure on February 1 with a statement that highlights her commitment to looking back at the institution’s heritage. Designed in Renaissance style, the building housed various institutions and collections, such as the Museum of Decorative Arts and the School of Decorative Arts, which included artists studios and workshops. Following the maxim of “Walking in the Artist’s Mind,” Rosenthal makes artists a central part of the programme as contributors and artists in residence. In addition, she will continue the tradition of presenting archaeological exhibitions and linking these to contemporary positions and current discourses.

2018 PROGRAM

Ana Mendieta

April 20–July 22, 2018

Ana Mendieta represents one of the most outstanding artistic positions of the 1970s and 1980s. The Martin-Gropius-Bau will present her multi-layered film work, which has been recently restored and digitised, the result of several years of research work.

Ana Mendieta’s work moves freely between disciplines such as body art, land art and performance art, without adhering to any particular medium or movement. The common element is the recurrent use of the abstracted shape of the female form in dialogue with the surrounding environment of nature—not least in order to question the separation between nature and the human body. Her artistic work transcends many boundaries, including those of artistic disciplines, geographic and political spaces, and research into history, gender and culture.

Organised by the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota, curated by Lynn Lukkas and Howard Oransky.

Lee Bul. Visionary Landscapes

September 2018–January 2019

Considered one of the most important Korean artists of her generation, Lee Bul has received much international recognition for her formally inventive and intellectually provocative work. A mix of performance and installation art, her multifaceted output explores dreams, ideals and utopias influenced by futuristic theories and science fiction, bioengineering and visionary architecture, as well as Japanese anime and manga.

During her 30-year artistic career, Lee Bul has witnessed South Korea’s evolution from a military dictatorship to democracy in constant confrontation with North Korea, located just a few miles away. Her works attest to an intense reflection on historical and political discourses, the challenges of globalisation and technical progress, but also the ideals of human and social perfection and their potential failure.

Organised in collaboration with the Hayward Gallery London, curated by Stephanie Rosenthal.

Also on view this year:

Berliner Festspiele’s project series Immersion produces an exhibition by Philippe Parrenoconceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk (May 25–August 5, 2018), and under the title Welt ohne Außen, Tino Sehgal and Thomas Oberender will bring together artistic positions on immersive spaces since the 1960s (June 8–August 5, 2018). Within the immersive sound and 360° visual exhibition ISM Hexadome, each work opens a door into a world crafted in sonic and visual detail, demonstrating the power of spatialisation for sound (March and April 2018). The guest exhibition Gurlitt: Status Report addresses the provenance of 250 works that have been hidden from public view for decades (September 14, 2018–January 7, 2019), while Restless Times. Archaeology in Germany demonstrates that communication and interconnectedness beyond regional borders has fundamentally influenced various facets of life since prehistory (September 21, 2018–January 6, 2019).

Martin-Gropius-Bau

Niederkirchnerstraße 7

10963 Berlin, Germany

T +49 30 25486124 /  F +49 30 25486107

www.gropiusbau.de