Originating from a distant location
The Düsseldorf Kunstpalast is set to host a large special exhibition starting September 5th, focusing on art created in the former East Germany. Titled "Beyond the Iron Curtain: Art from the German Democratic Republic," the exhibition presents a diverse and contradictory art period between 1949 and 1989.
Among the most prominent and internationally known representatives of visual art in former East Germany, often referred to as the "Leipzig School," are Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer, and Werner Tübke. Joining them in this exhibition are thirteen artists, including the well-known A. R. Penck, who held a professorship at the Düsseldorf Art Academy until 2013.
One of the featured artists is Cornelia Schleime, born in East Berlin in 1953. Schleime's art is multifaceted, including paper works, Super-8 films, travel diaries, objects, and installations. Her work often addresses political themes, particularly the situation of women in the GDR. Schleime was banned from exhibiting in 1981, and one of her works from the "Stasi series," titled "Until further good cooperation," is on display at the Kunstpalast.
Another notable artist is Willi Sitte, a painter and graphic artist from Halle an der Saale who died in 2013. Sitte was a representative of socialist realism and represented the GDR, alongside Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer, and Werner Tübke, at documenta 6 in Kassel in 1977. However, the rumor that Sitte worked for the Stasi haunted him throughout his life. Sitte's body of work, left after his death, includes many large-scale works depicting worker motifs from the GDR.
Schleime moved from East to West Berlin in 1984, and most of her work up to that point disappeared and has never resurfaced. Many of Schleime's works have a subtle humor or irony, such as her "Stasi series" responding to the surveillance files of the Ministry for State Security.
The exhibition features monographic groups of works, presenting artistic positions between adaptation and rebellion, affirmation and subversion, with a special focus on painting. Around 80 works of these artists will be on display until January next year.
The exhibition at Düsseldorf Kunstpalast from September 5, 2021, to January 2022, offers a unique opportunity to explore the rich and complex art landscape of the GDR, going beyond the well-known names of A. R. Penck, Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer, and Werner Tübke.
