About
The show that is curated by Bettina M. Busse features 38 works and continues the gallery’s tradition of large-scale group exhibitions (Women - Art – New Trends (Marina Abromovic, Valie Export, Rebecca Horn, Maria Lassnig, Gina Pane, Carolee Schneemann usw.) 1975, Mannerism Subjective. Artists Select Artists, 1987, Fluxus Subjective, 1990, LAX, 1993 and the BERLIN-BINNENDIFFERENZ (2000-2001) series.) All of the gallery spaces, including the two main rooms, the showroom, the ‘Kabinett’ and the Galerie im Parterre, serve as backdrop for this major show.
The word ICON literally means both symbol or sign but it can also refer to a symbolic and cultic image that is laden with meaning. It can also be recognized again in other contexts as a reference or kind of archetype. This means that we are dealing with a highly complex notion here. Also metaphorically, on an artistic level, it is certainly a complex phenomenon. What an artist calls his or her ICON reveals a part of the inspiration process, opening up new perspectives of his or her own work.
Contemporary art makes use of a multi-layered reference system, which includes quotes and variations, appropriations, adaptations and sampling but also references to (historical) models, over-paintings, etc. Artists restage, juxtapose, systematize or even iconize. The deliberate reference to other artists or to artistic epochs has become a common approach.
Starting with romanticism, a new image of the artist began to emerge. Now the artist was seen as a genius who was able, from within the depths of his or her own being to create artworks as masterpieces in their own right – unaffected by the surrounding world. From here on, innovation and originality come to the fore as important parameters for assessing artworks. This position spurred a distancing from - and a break with - earlier artistic traditions, paving the way for radical innovations and aesthetic revolutions in modern art.
Marina Abramovic (*1946) - John Cage (*1912), Gottfried Bechtold (*1947) - Marcel Duchamp (*1887), Martha Jungwirth (*1940) - Cy Twombly (*1928), Erik van Lieshout (*1968) - Allan Sekula (*1951), Zenita Komad (*1980) - Dieter Roth (*1930), Angelika Krinzinger (*1969) - Man Ray (*1890), Ulrike Lienbacher (*1963) - Maria Lassnig (*1919), Maha Malluh (*1959) - Robert Rauschenberg (*1925), Hans Op de Beeck (*1969) - Peter Doig (*1959), Goran Petercol (*1949) - Julije Knifer (*1924), Werner Reiterer (*1968) - Alfred Kubin (*1877), Anja Ronacher (*1979) - Louise Bourgeois (*1911), Erik Schmidt (*1968) - Richard Prince (*1949), Mithu Sen (*1971) - Sophie Calle (*1953), Gavin Turk (*1967) - Joseph Kosuth (*1945), Martin Walde (*1957) - Paul Thek (*1933), Mark Wallinger (*1959) - Harry Beck (*1931), Zhang Ding (*1980) - Fluxus, Thomas Zipp (*1966) - Eadweard Muybridge (*1830);
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue in German and English.
