INTERIOR WORLDS Memory - Nostalgia - Exoticism

29. May 2011 to 15. January 2012

The exhibition focuses on the subject of the interior in the visual arts. Taking the collection of the Museum Kunst der Westküste as its starting point, it relates interiors from the nineteenth
and early twentieth century to contemporary artistic practices in, primarily, photography and video. The main emphasis will be on the aesthetic interconnections of interior and exterior worlds as well as of individual and environment. The interior on the one hand corresponds to subjectivity and the mental state of people, while on the other it can become a stage for the exotic and the foreign. At the same time interiors can take on the role of memory sites that allow travels through time, while being perceived and idealised as representative of the good old days. Included in the exhibition are paintings by Otto Heinrich Engel (1866-1949), Julius Exner (1825- 1910), Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), Jozef Israels (1825-1911), Carl Ludwig Jessen (1833- 1917), Max Liebermann (1847-1935) and Emil Nolde (1867-1956). These enter into a dialogue with works by Viennese artist Lisl Ponger (b. 1947) on the subject of exoticism and to nostalgic staged photographs of Berlin photo artist Anna Lehmann-Brauns (b. 1967). In the digital paintings of Viennese artist Dorothee Golz (b. 1960), Johannes Vermeer’s (1632-1675) famous Girl with the Pearl Earring from 1665 appears in contemporary interior settings, while a video by Danish artist Christina Bredahl Duelund (b. 1967) shows furniture performing a wondrous ballet to music by Chopin in a flooded room. Finally, Berlin artist Isa Melsheimer (b. 1968) presents a concrete model Gaststätte Inselparadies (Restaurant Island Paradise), referring in an exemplary manner to the revolutionary concrete formwork structures of East German engineer Ulrich Müther (1934-2007), which by now have achieved cult status among young architects. The exhibition Interior Worlds: Memory --- Nostalgia --- Exoticism reflects on the interface between exemplary and staged reality. The glimpse into the interior of rooms and spaces offers viewers the opportunity to encounter widely different times and realities.

A catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.