Beuys – Lehmbruck
Thinking is Sculpture

25 June to 1 November 2021

There are not many artists who caused as radical an upheaval in the history of art as Joseph Beuys. With his concept of Social Sculpture, he sought to apply the liberating potential of art to all areas of life. At the very heart of his thinking was the dissolution of the boundaries between art and society, politics, science and education. Thus Beuys gave rise to a new, expanded concept of art.
In 1986, just a few days before his death, Beuys was awarded the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Prize. In his acceptance speech, he stressed the importance the art of the Expressionist sculptor had for him. He explained how his encounter with Lehmbruck’s work had led him to art in the first place and traced a connection between Lehmbruck and the development of his own concept of Social Sculpture. Marking the 100 th  birthday of Joseph Beuys, the exhibition Beuys – Lehmbruck. Thinking is Sculpture explores that idea and presents the work of the two artists.

An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle in cooperation with the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg. The exhibition is part of the Beuys anniversary year programme »beuys 2021. 100 years joseph beuys«, a project of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in collaboration with the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf. The patron is Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet.

The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Method
A Retrospective

10 September 2021 to 6 March 2022

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) was a director, film producer, actor and author. As one of the key representatives of the New German Cinema, he succeeded in synthesising radical subjectivity and social analysis in his work, capturing the look and feel of the Federal Republic of Germany of his time like few other artists.
The retrospective, chronologically structured exhibition paints a multifaceted portrait of the great German filmmaker in the context of his time. His oeuvre, shown in combination with archive and source material, is presented as an unparalleled social document, and his biography is compellingly interwoven with the reality of the everyday life he experienced in Germany. A selection of documents, letters, archive material, photographs, quotations, personal objects, costumes and film compilations facilitate contextualisation.
Fassbinder’s exposed position, his creative non-conformity and artistic radicalism led to now-legendary films, television and theatre plays, such as FEAR EATS THE SOUL, THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, EIGHT HOURS DON’T MAKE A DAY, BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ and QUERELLE, which have become part of the collective visual memory. He was extremely prolific: in a career that lasted less than two decades, he wrote, directed or shot 45 feature films and 25 plays. From the beginning, he moved between theatre, film/television and documentary styles, adroitly adapting his visual language to the needs of each form.
Fassbinder lived and demanded intensity. His often contrary, critical attitude never got in the way of his profoundly affectionate depiction of people, irrespective of their milieu, and was invariably marked by respect and consistency. Fassbinder’s work – the subject of fierce debate during his lifetime – has lost none of its force, vitality and significance. To understand it means to be able to muster understanding and tolerance for ourselves and others.

An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, in cooperation with the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, and the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, Berlin.

'Adam, Eve and the Serpent'
Works from the Schenkung Sammlung Hoffmann

29 October 2021 to 13 February 2022

With a selection of some 200 outstanding works – ranging from painting, photography, drawing and sculpture to installation, film and video art – the Bundeskunsthalle presents a comprehensive survey of modern art drawn from the important private collection put together by Erika and Rolf Hoffmann. The Hoffmanns made their first acquisitions in the 1960s, purchasing primarily directly from artists, with whom they maintained a close dialogue from the very beginning. The exhibition offers deep insights into the collection in all its individuality, subjectivity and intensely private nature – Erika Hoffmann has been known to describe the works as ‘family members.’
The dialogical, corresponding and synergetic principle of the collection, which transcends borders and generations, is made manifest in the open and cross-media presentation. The exhibition sheds light on surprising correspondences, offers intellectual and emotional stimuli and reflects fundamental existential and philosophical questions that have a timeless validity in our society. Concepts such as energy, radicality, innovation, transience, corporeality or volatility are compellingly brought to life in works by artists such as Carla Accardi, Yael Bartana, Christian Boltanski, Monica Bonvicini, Isa Genzken, Felix González-Torres, Georg Herold, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama, Ernesto Neto, Julian Rosefeldt, Frank Stella, Wolfgang Tillmans and Andy Warhol. The rich diversity of artistic expressions in the exhibition reflects that of the collection.

A cooperation between the Bundeskunsthalle and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Schenkung Sammlung Hoffmann

Federal Prize for Art Students

25th Federal Competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
12 November 2021 to 30 January 2022

Every two years, the 24 German art academies nominate two of their best students to take part in the competition Federal Prize for Art Students. A jury of experts selects up to eight prize winners from among the nominees.
In the exhibition, each of the winners is given a room of their own. Their works are representative of the high quality and diversity of art currently produced at German art schools and academies – from performances with and without audience participation to films and installations and the classic disciplines of drawing, painting and sculpture. The Federal Competition is a unique platform that supports outstanding students and enables them to gain professional exhibition experience and to establish contacts within the art world.