In contrast to the flood of digital images, the old medium of woodcutting has a backbone: woodcutting is powerful, clear and direct. Every cut is a decision. At the beginning of the 20th century, the expressionists celebrated it as an experimental means of expression. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) in particular, the co-founder of the artists' association Die Brücke, considered his prints to be on a par with painting. In the woodcut, many of his handmade prints are unique. In the exhibition, Kirchner's works enter into an exciting dialog with woodcuts by contemporary artists Benjamin Badock, Gabriela Jolowicz and Thomas Kilpper.
The exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen shows around 180 top-class woodcut works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and offers an in-depth insight into all of his creative phases. On display are impressive, partly large-format sheets, including many complex color woodcuts. Kirchner's nudes, portraits, cityscapes and landscapes tell of the basic sensitivities of human existence, of desire, agonizing loneliness and the desire for community, of fear and violence and the longing for peace and quiet.

Thomas Kilpper, Woodeut Maelstrom, 2023/24, installation view Kunsthalle Bremen 2024 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein Bremen/Marcus Meyer Photography
In their motifs and expressiveness, Kirchner's woodcuts are an inspiration for contemporary artists. The exhibition thus also explores the here and now of the woodcut.
Benjamin Badock (*1974, Chemnitz), Gabriela Jolowicz (*1978, Salzgitter) and Thomas Kilpper (*1956, Stuttgart) devote themselves exclusively to woodcuts. In a pleasurable and critical examination of Kirchner, they have developed expansive installations that are in turn receptive to Kirchner's works.
November 9, 2024 to March 9, 2025