Christoph Schlingensief. Searching for Germany

About

Consistent characteristics of his works were a clear, striking language, a fascination for trash and the mainstream, whose mechanisms he exploited with relish, and an ethical and moral concern that always underpinned his radical actions. The seriousness with which he questioned everyday life in Germany in the face of an insufficiently processed history went hand in hand with a humorous view of himself and others. His artistic practice was pervaded by a loud, challenging outcry that was not intended to scare, but to arouse and unite. 

In the exhibition  ›Christoph Schlingensief | Deutschlandsuche (Searching for Germany)‹, three of his major works are shown that enable a comparison with today's politically motivated activist art. How do his approach, his aspirations and his concerns differ from the diverse current intermedia, cross-genre art practices, which are undeniably in Schlingensief's tradition, but - according to criticism and perception - often only seek self-assurance, self-affirmation and self-referentiality?

The Schlingensief exhibition at Crone, his first solo show in Berlin in 10 years, is intended to help to contextualize his work against the backdrop of current events. It is curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers, who, together with Klaus Biesenbach and Susanne Pfeffer, was jointly responsible for the major Schlingensief retrospectives at KW in Berlin in 2013 and at MoMa PS1 in New York in 2014, and is being realized in close collaboration with Aino Laberenz, who manages and preserves Schlingensief's estate.