Volume 4.1 of the catalogue raisonné presents a group of works that comment on four paintings by Gerhard Richter entitled “Birkenau” and attempt to come to terms with a cruel historical fact in the infamous extermination camp of the same name, Auschwitz II/Birkenau. As direct as Müller’s critical comments on Richter’s paintings may be, they are accompanied by many less conspicuous, quieter, even wounded works which were on view at the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg in the winter of 2022/23 and at St. Matthew’s Church in Berlin’s Kulturforum in 2023.

The thematic focus of both exhibitions was the so-called “Sonderkommando,” a group of forced laborers and segregated Jewish prisoners who had to assist the murder of their fellow human beings under the constant threat of death and supervision by the SS from 1942 to 1944/45. The book documents Michael Müller’s artistic confrontation with this demanding historical fact and contextualizes it in a long essay by the art historian Lukas Töpfer. A text contribution by Anne-Marie Bonnet deals with the differences in the two solo exhibitions in which the group of works was presented and addresses the site-specific characteristics of the presentations.

Edited by Alien Athena Foundation for Art, H. von Amelunxen, A.-M. Bonnet, G. Heschl and L. Töpfer
With contributions by Lukas Töpfer, Anne-Marie Bonnet and Gero Heschl

Volume 4.2 of the Catalogue Raisonné "Ernstes Spiel" [Serious Game] is devoted exclusively to the large-format, 126-part work "Lektüre und Ablenkung" [Reading and Distraction], which belongs to the group of works called indexes.
The basis for the index presented in this book is Jacques Derrida’s book "Vom Geist" [Of Spirit] in the German translation by Alexander García Düttmann, who also contributed an essay to the book. But much more than the content of the book, Michael Müller is interested in the inevitable distractions that come to the fore during the intensive reading of a book.
Meticulously documented, continued and elaborated in a wide variety of media—from text notes to drawings, photographs and collages to mathematical notations—the distractions integrated into the work unfold a multi-layered network of references, categorizations and relations that reveal structures of the ever-wandering mind.

Edited by Alien Athena Foundation for Art, H. von Amelunxen and A.-M. Bonnet

Since the 1950s, Rudolf Zwirner has lived a life that is closely linked to art and played a decisive role in shaping its development during the second half of the twentieth century: not only professionally as an art dealer, secretary general of the second documenta, cofounder of the world's first art fair, and curator, but also privately in intense exchanges with artists. The exhibition "Life in Pictures: A Portrait of Vision" for Rudolf Zwirner curated by Michael Müller and Philipp Bollmann to mark Zwirner's ninetieth birthday, has chosen an associative approach that seeks to create a dialogue between different artistic positions, regardless of the time of their creation, in relation to Rudolf Zwirner.

This book presents a group of works by Michael Müller that comment on four paintings by Gerhard Richter entitled "Birkenau" and attempt to come to terms with a cruel historical fact in the infamous extermination camp of the same name, Auschwitz II/Birkenau. As direct as Müller’s critical comments on Richter’s paintings may be, they are accompanied by many less conspicuous, quieter, even wounded works which were on view at the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg in the winter of 2022/23. Coinciding with the publication of this book in the spring of 2023, they will be presented at St. Matthew’s Church in Berlin’s Kulturforum.

The thematic focus of both exhibitions is the so-called "Sonderkommando," a group of forced laborers and segregated Jewish prisoners who had to assist the murder of their fellow human beings under the constant threat of death and supervision by the SS from 1942 to 1944/45. The book documents Michael Müller’s artistic confrontation with this demanding historical fact and contextualizes it in a long essay by the art historian Lukas Töpfer.

The catalogue is dedicated to the monumental painting "Der geschenkte Tag" [The Given Day], measuring approx. 6 x 65 m, which Michael Müller created for his solo exhibition at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, 2022/23. The 24-part painting as well as the exhibition as a whole elaborate on the Greek myth of the twins Castor and Polydeuces [Castor and Pollux], the Dioscuri. In addition to the history of the work’s creation and an extensive interview with the artist, essays, and a lyrical composition by American literary scholar and translator Stanley Lombardo will update the story of the Dioscuri for the 21st century.
Accompanying essays by Hubertus von Amelunxen, Stanley Lombardo, Lukas Töpfer, Cora von Pape and Rudolf Zwirner, poems by Stanley Lombardo and Michael Krüger, a foreword by Gero Heschl and introductory words by Philipp Demandt.

"On a warm autumn day in 2009 an artist, a gallery owner and two collectors visited the premises at Bülowstraße 90 for the first time. Impressed by the spacious floor of the old building and the possibilities, these four made a completely unexpected promise – KUNSTSÆLE Berlin was born. This publication now marks the end of the more than 10-year history with texts by the founders and all the information.
AANANT & ZOO: a commercial gallery, SALON POPULAIRE: soirées, and KUNSTSÆLE: an institution. Something like that."