Eröffnung: "Welt, wohin? ZERO und die Gegenwart"

➤ Cordial invitation to the exhibition opening on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 6 pm in the Malkastenforum. Admission to the opening free of charge.

World, where to?
ZERO and thepresent
May 15 to September 14, 2025 at the Künstlerverein Malkasten / Malkastenforum

A cooperation between the Künstlerverein Malkasten and the ZERO foundation.

Past, present and future. The exhibition "World, where to? ZERO and the Present" combines characteristic works by the Düsseldorf ZERO artists Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker and their environment with works by young artists who, in the spirit of ZERO, are now exploring the new possibilities for art. Works from the 1950s to the early 1980s are juxtaposed with works that have only recently been created. In this way, the clash of different time periods and positions demonstrates the radiance that ZERO still exerts today.

A mirror wall by Christian Megert from the 1960s is the leitmotif of the exhibition. It is historical, but it reflects the present and fragments the space in which the positions of tomorrow can unfold. Günther Uecker's "Sandmühle" (1970) also deals with time - albeit as a cycle: a machine-driven rod constantly rotates on its own axis and draws ever new and yet always the same circles in the sand. Light and movement, central themes of ZERO, also come together in the large exhibition space in light objects by Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Nanda Vigo.

The objects by the ZERO artists are framed by works by friends, such as Jan Henderikse, Paul Van Hoeydonck and Peter Royen. The artists Hal Busse and Herta Junghanns-Grulich should be emphasized as rediscoveries. Both were represented in the 7th ZERO evening exhibition in 1958.

The contemporary artists in the exhibition have created new works especially for this occasion. Felicitas Rohden refers to a new NASA project, an inflatable heat shield. Angelika J. Trojnarski, who works with the element of fire in her paper collages, focuses on the connection between science and nature. Johannes Raimann and Mira Klug deal with "photography after photography". Joscha Bender has ChatGPT and an image-generating AI create a version of Michelangelo's famous "David", which he then transforms - with all its inaccuracies - into a stone sculpture. Till Bödeker invites us into a laboratory with server cabinets and monitors: a reference to the server rooms in which artificial intelligence is trained.

The concept of the exhibition by Barbara Könches represents a journey from the year 2050 back to the year 2025. In some details - such as the invention of the "Apporteur" - it is based on the fictional account by historian Reginald Charles Churchill (1916-1986). In his "short history of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow 1957-6601", which was scientific in style but fictitious in content and published in German translation in 1957 under the title "Welt - wohin?", he created a fictitious chronology and, as a scientist, supposedly looked back on the last millennia from the year 6601.

What can be seen?
Around 20 exhibits are on display in the exhibition: Paintings, photographs and material collages, sculptures, wall objects and room installations as well as the light objects and kinetic works typical of ZERO. The works are on loan from the ZERO foundation, the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, the Stadtmuseum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf and the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection, from private collectors and galleries as well as from the artists themselves.

Artists in the exhibition
Joscha Bender (*1991), Till Bödeker (*1991), Hal Busse (1926-2018), Jan Henderikse (*1937), Herta Junghanns-Grulich (1912-1990), Mira Klug (*1992), Heinz Mack (*1931), Christian Megert (*1936), Otto Piene (1928-2014), Johannes Raimann (*1992), Felicitas Rohden (*1984), Peter Royen (1923-2013), Angelika J. Trojnarski (*1979), Günther Uecker (*1930), Paul Van Hoeydonck (1925-2025), Nanda Vigo (1926-2020)
________________________________________________________

Duration
➤ from May 15 to September 14, 2025

Opening hours Malkastenforum
➤ Tuesdays from 5 to 9 pm, Thursdays to Sundays from 11 am to 5 pm

Address
Malkasten artists' association / Malkastenforum
Jacobistraße 6a
40211 Düsseldorf

Admission
➤ 4 €, Free admission for members of the Künstlerverein Malkasten

Further information about the exhibition at www.zerofoundation.de / www.malkasten.org and on the respective social media channels