On the occasion of this year's Berlin Art Week, Michael Müller's 126-part work "Lektüre und Ablenkung" will be on display at his Berlin studio. Please join us for the opening reception and the book launch of the accompanying Catalogue Raisonné on Friday, 15 Sept 2023, 7-9 pm, Studio Michael Müller, Lise-Meitner-Straße 39-41, 10589 Berlin

“To write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric”, noted Theodor W. Adorno in 1949—and thus also questioned other forms of artistic engagement with the Holocaust. The symposium Am Abgrund der Bilder, which takes place in the context of the exhibition of the same name in the St. Matthäus-Kirche in Berlin, looks at various forms of artistic engagement with the Holocaust. What could be appropriate artistic forms of remembrance? Is it possible to approach the Shoah in images? The symposium takes up these questions and brings them into discussion with international image scholars, philosophers and philosophers of religion.

With lectures by Gideon Greif, Thomas Macho, Almut Shulamit Bruckstein, Hubertus von Amelunxen and Lukas Töpfer. Moderated by Julia Voss.

The opening lecture will be given by Benjamin Buchloh on 31 August at 7 pm.

The full program of the symposium can be found here.
Participation is free of charge, please register here.

In cooperation with Alien Athena Foundation for Art, Bard College Berlin, Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin, Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank, Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt, and Deutsche Postcode Lotterie.

The exhibition "A Life in Pictures. A Portrait of Seeing for Rudolf Zwirner" traces the various stages of the gallery owner’s life as reflected in art. Works from different periods of origin are juxtaposed to create exciting dialogues, enabling conclusions to be drawn about existential themes of humankind.

Since 1956, all aspects of Rudolf Zwirner’s life have been closely linked with art, the development of which he decisively shaped in the second half of the twentieth century up to the present day: professionally as a gallery owner, secretary general of documenta II, cofounder of the world’s first art fair, and curator, but also privately in intensive exchange with artists. "Life in Pictures. A Portrait of Seeing for Rudolf Zwirner", shown on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday, makes a plea that art as an essential part of the human condition. The more than fifty works in the exhibition, which come from museums, private collections, as well as the Deutsche Bank Collection, which owes important acquisitions to the Zwirner gallery, paint an artistic portrait of this impressive, multi-faceted man. At the same time, however, they stand for the constants, ruptures, and developments in art and the art trade since the postwar period, which Zwirner decisively influenced and shaped. Rudolf Zwirner was already associated with most of the artists represented in the show in the early stages of their careers and participated in their later successes.

Featuring Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Serge Charchoune, Max Ernst, Dan Flavin, David Hockney, Martha Jungwirth, Konrad Klapheck, Astrid Klein, Maria Lassnig, Agnes Martin, Olaf Metzel, Henri Michaux, Piet Mondrian, Blinky Palermo, Francis Picabia, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, and others.

Curated by Philipp Bollmann and Michael Müller

Photo © 1971 by Angelika Platen

The first volume of the Catalogue Raisonné of Michael Müller’s artistic oeuvre also functions as an exhibition catalogue and is dedicated to the monumental painting Der geschenkte Tag [The Given Day], measuring approx. 6 × 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 works’ creation and an extensive interview with the artist, essays, and a lyrical composition by American literary scholar and translator Stanley Lombardo update the story of the Dioscuri for the 21st century.

Michael Müller is showing 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.

Exhibition in collaboration with Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank. Sponsored by Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa.

We are pleased to present the new website of Studio Michael Müller. Here you can now find artworks, exhibitions, publications and much more in a new clear and updated design.