Museum Ludwig

In the location's words:

The Museum Ludwig is known far beyond Cologne's city limits for its collection of numerous icons of modern and contemporary art - from Picasso and Warhol to Lichtenstein and Richter. In the building designed by Peter Busmann and Godfried Haberer in 1986 between the cathedral, the Rhine and the main railway station, visitors can experience a chronological journey through influential works of art from the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to the most extensive Pop Art collection in Europe, the world's third-largest Picasso collection and key works of German Expressionism from the Haubrich Collection, the Museum Ludwig also exhibits visionary video art and photography from its beginnings to the present day.

Current:

"HERE AND NOW at the Museum Ludwig. And yesterday and tomorrow" (9.3.-13.10.2024)

How can we define the here and now, given that we are on a tectonic plate that moves about as fast as our fingernails grow, while clouds pass above us and constantly change shape? And what does the address of the Museum Ludwig, Bischofsgartenstraße, whose surroundings are largely sealed, actually refer to? Using a concentrated selection of works and materials as well as a garden project on the roof terrace, the here and now of the museum location is placed in relation to yesterday and tomorrow in order to learn together about deeper time periods and change. It is the first verifiably climate-neutral exhibition at the Museum Ludwig.

"Roni Horn.Give Me Paradox or Give Me Death" (23.3.-11.8.2024)

Give Me Paradox or Give Me Death is a comprehensive solo exhibition of the influential American artist Roni Horn with over one hundred works ranging from the beginnings of her artistic activity to the present day.

Roni Horn's oeuvre includes sculpture, photography, drawing and artist's books. Behind this openness lies a central idea in Roni Horn's work: everything in the world is changeable, everything can take on different states and meanings. The exhibition at Museum Ludwig examines this idea through three themes central to Horn's work: Nature, identity and language. The title of the exhibition goes back to Patrick Henry, a prominent representative of the American independence movement in the 18th century, who ended a speech with the famous words: "Give me liberty or give me death!" By replacing "freedom" with "paradox", the artist refers to her preference for coupling two contradictory statements. This aspect, which is central to her work, is also reflected in her use of doublings and pairs.