The exhibition sheds light on the centuries-old fascination of horror. Horror and dread have accompanied mankind throughout the centuries. In art and culture, however, this unease has been contrasted with a pleasurable interest in it, sometimes even a humorous approach. For the first time, the exhibition focuses on the diverse and ambiguous history of the artistic treatment of horror as well as the topicality of horror in fashion, music, film and contemporary art. The spectrum of the more than 100 works on display ranges from classical painting and sculpture to elaborate installations.
Even in the Renaissance, visions of hell and death had an attractive and fascinating effect. The fascination with horror reached its first peak in Black Romanticism and the literature of Edgar Allan Poe. It then became an epoch-making phenomenon in the course of the 19th century. Visual artists, who rejected the science and rationality of the Enlightenment, turned to emotionality, the wildness of nature and supernatural themes. At the beginning of the 20th century, bloodthirsty shows in horror theaters such as the Grand Guignol in Paris satisfied the hunger for shivers. At the same time, early horror films developed the main characters and strategies of suspenseful and gruesome storytelling.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow and pupils, Purgatorium - Paradise - Hell (triptych The Last Judgement), Hell (right part, completed by pupils), 1848 - 1852, oil on canvas, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, on permanent loan from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia © Kunstpalast, photo: Horst Kolberg
The exhibition DEATH AND DEVIL. Fascination of Horror shows the origin of the depiction of horror in art and cultural history with masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The focus of the show is on works from the last twenty years by artists such as Alexander McQueen, the Chapman Brothers, Billie Eilish, Lars von Trier, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Mary Sibande and many others. Death metal and the blood-filled sneakers of MSCHF meet contributions by Andres Serrano and Eliza Douglas. With their works, they all evoke ambivalent feelings of fear, unease, but also enthusiasm. Are they breaking the rules? Are they transgressing the boundaries of social conventions? In any case, the works are intended to get under the skin and inspire the imagination.
March 1 to June 2, 2024
www.hlmd.de
