KIKI SMITH - FROM MY HEART

STATE GRAPHICS COLLECTION MUNICH

AT THE PINAKOTHEK DER MODERNE

With the exhibition "From My Heart", the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München congratulates the New York artist Kiki Smith (*1954) on her milestone birthday on January 18, 2024.
The Munich collection has very close ties with Kiki Smith, as the artist has donated or is donating her entire print oeuvre to the collection - the donation is expanded annually with newly created works. Thanks to this generous gesture, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München now owns the largest collection of prints by Kiki Smith in the world.

Throughout Kiki Smith's career, the question of human existence has been at the center of her artistic work. In order to explore the human body in more detail, she had been intensively studying the functions and parts of the human body since the late 1970s. She is considered one of the first contemporary artists to thematize this in her art. This also includes the organs, including the heart.

By choosing the theme "Heart", the SGSM is expressing its affinity with Kiki Smith and at the same time providing a unique and concentrated insight into her subtle oeuvre. This choice of theme allows visitors to sense the artist's considerations of form and content. Existential questions about human existence are raised and scrutinized.