The exhibition "WE. The body as a sign" at the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr focuses attention on the image of man, his physicality and his body. Both the individual body and the body as a political moment bear cultural and social signs and traces. At the same time, the exhibition also explores the question of what connects us as human beings - the "WE" that seems to be disappearing more and more. The visual examination of the human body is therefore always also a reflection on being human as such.
The exhibition "WE. The body as a sign" deals with the most diverse facets that the human body can take on in terms of self-image as well as in relation to society. The works of art span a motivic arc from the image of the body to the self-image to the social mirror image. The body is always present in our lives; from the first to the last breath, human existence is bound to the body, it is the container of our soul. Both our individual experiences and social rules are inscribed in it, which become visible as traces of social norms, regulations and cultural ideals through the body. It is a sign of belonging as well as a carrier of history and origin.
Iiu Susiraja, Highlights of the Weekly Cleaning, 2018, C-print, framed, Scharpff-Striebich Collection © Iiu Susiraja
More than 70 artists are presented with over 90 works of art from the 1920s to the present day. Based on the collection of the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr, the central theme of the exhibition is the artistic representation of the body and thus also the image of man in dialog with contemporary positions.
participating artists:
Jagoda Bednarsky, Rebekka Benzenberg, Alexandra Bircken, Gregory Bojorquez, Victor Bonato, Monica Bonvicini, Andrea Bowers, Georges Braque, Gernot Bubenik, Louisa Clement, Cameron Clayborn, Achim Duchow, Anna Ehrenstein, Bea Emsbach, Keltie Ferris, Magdalena Frauenberg, Katharina Fritsch, Isabella Fürnkäs, Robert Gober, Dorothee Golz, Melissa Gordon, Vivian Greven, Uwe Henneken, Erika Hock, Cathrin Hoffmann, Nadira Husain, Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Käthe Kollwitz, Konrad Klapheck, Barbara Kruger, Vera Lossau, Maren Maurer, Kresiah Mukwazhi, Loredana Nemes, Katja Novitskova, Ilse Otten, Arnulf Rainer, Ralf Raßloff, Anys Reimann, Julian Reiser, Christian Rohlfs, Thomas Ruff, Silke Schatz, Grete Schick, Oskar Schlemmer, Thomas Schütte, Ruben Benjamin Smulczynski, Annegret Soltau, Lucia Sotnikova, Ferdinand Spindel, Pia Stadtbäumer, Monika Stricker, Iiu Susiraja, Sophia Süßmilch, Emma Talbot, Christian Theiss, Cony Theis, Rosemarie Trockel, Anna Uddenberg, Aria Watson, Ambera Wellmann, Manabu Yamanaka
February 23 until September 7, 2025
www.kunstmuseum-muelheim.de
Anys Reimann, KICK OFF, 2023, collage, oil on canvas, Scharpff-Striebich Collection © Anys Reimann, photo: Johannes Bendzulla
