Nationalgalerie: A Collection for the 21st Century

Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
16. June 2023 — 29. March 2026

After almost three years, this exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof—tracing the Berlin art scene from the late 1980s to today—will close at the end of March 2026. I’m deeply grateful to the curators Catherine Nichols and Sam Bardaouil for including my painting Der entfesselte Zuckermann (1987) in this remarkable show.

In 1987, Sabine Herrmann and I had the chance to travel to Kyiv. It was an intense experience: witnessing demonstrations in the streets while watching Is It Easy to Be Young? by Juris Podnieks. Returning to East Berlin, it felt as if the GDR was lagging behind the changes unfolding across Eastern Europe. Shortly after, I painted Zuckerman Unbound—a figure listening into the dark, sensing a shift in the future.

Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Catherine Nichols, curator at the HB.

artists: Absalon, Franz Ackermann, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Nevin Aladağ, Kader Attia, Nairy Baghramian, Tina Bara, Sibylle Bergemann, Sophie Calle, Isaac Chong Wai, Edith Dekyndt, Jason Dodge, Haris Epaminonda, Ayşe Erkmen, EVA & ADELE, Rainer Fetting, Dan Flavin, Annette Frick, Isa Genzken, Petrit Halilaj & Álvaro Urbano, Flaka Haliti, Mona Hatoum, Georg Herold, Sabine Herrmann, Rebecca Horn, Annette Kelm, Anselm Kiefer, Klaus Killisch, Martin Kippenberger, Barbara Klemm, Jannis Kounellis, Ignas Krunglevicius, Alicja Kwade, Klara Lidén, Marwan, Julie Mehretu, Olaf Nicolai, Emeka Ogboh, Manfred Paul, Hermann Pitz, Sigmar Polke, SUSI POP, Robert Rauschenberg, Daniel Richter, Thomas Ruff, Anri Sala, Selma Selman, Timur Si-Qin, Katharina Sieverding, Florian Slotawa, Wolfgang Tillmans, Haegue Yang, Corinne Wasmuht, Carrie Mae Weems, Rachel Whiteread, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Holly Zausner

“Der entfesselte Zuckermann” was part of a donation of 5 paintings to the museum in 2014 by a private collection in Basel.

Presse: Welt am Sonntag
Interview: SPKmagazin