Exhibition: Am Abgrund der Bilder by Michael Müller
Saturday, April 22, 2023St. Matthäus-Kirche, Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin
OPENING Saturday, April 22, 2023, 7:00 p.m.
Introduction by Luisa Heese and Rudolf Zwirner
St. Matthäus-Kirche, Berlin
The artist Michael Müller shows a complex of works created between 2013 and 2022 at St. Matthäus-Kirche, Berlin, that is dedicated to the question of the possibilities and impossibilities of an artistic engagement with the Holocaust. In a 16-part work, Müller questions Gerhard Richter's "Birkenau" cycle by uncovering its layers and revealing mechanisms that, when examined closely, open up a space for discussion. What unites the works shown in the exhibition "Am Abgrund der Bilder" is that they represent an interrogation from different perspectives in a broad spectrum of artistic media: Painting, sculpture, photography and text. They evoke the openness of questioning, foregoing a definitive answer and instead allowing for constant discussion. In the church space, Müller's works not only pose anew the question of the biblical ban on images, but also the question of a God who could allow the murder of millions of people. The exhibition runs April 23 – September 3, 2023.
In late summer (date to be announced) Bard College Berlin will cohost the Symposium "AM ABGRUND DER BILDER"
On the occasion of the exhibition, a symposium will take place in the late summer of 2023 that will deal with the artistic and social ways of dealing with the four photographs of the so-called "Sonderkommando" of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the only direct and immediate visual testimonies of the Holocaust. The symposium will present positions from the fields of historical science and art history as well as philosophical and image-theoretical positions that deal with the issue of the depictability of singular historical events and the implications of artistic engagement with them. What functions do images have, what power and responsibility do images have? Can everything be depicted or do certain topics elude depictability? What may and what must be depicted?
This symposium is a cooperation between Bard College Berlin and Evangelische Akademie Berlin. It is generously supported by the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie and Alien Athena Foundation for Art.
Website: https://stiftung-stmatthaeus.de/pressebereich/pressemitteilungen/michael-mueller-am-abgrund-der-bilder/