Heavy Metal
Works from the Marli Hoppe-Ritter Collection

Metal is one of the most important materials in constructive-concrete art. The wealth of possibilities it offers for processing, together with the ways its appearance and behaviour can vary, have constantly inspired new forms of design and aesthetic concepts since the dawn of geometric abstraction. The exhibition Heavy Metal features some 50 works from the Marli Hoppe-Ritter Collection, and is dedicated to how this multifaceted material has been used in art, from the late 1950s to the present day.

Whether steel, aluminium, iron or copper – each metal has its own special characteristics and properties. Their colours, structures, firmness or elasticity, together with the numerous ways in which they can be processed and employed, grants enormous creative freedom. The sheer range of the exhibition illustrates what contrasts art made of and with metal can embrace: it can evince enormous physicality, or let itself be reduced to a delicate framework. And while sometimes enveloped in a velvety layer of rust, it may also allow light and shade to dance along on its surfaces.

A silvery aluminium relief (1958) by Heinz Mack marks the chronological beginning of the show; it is also a fine example of a number of works that reveal a shimmering, flowing appearance when actively viewed. Parallel to this, Martin Willing takes an experimental approach to the phenomenon of movement: his works made of high-tensile materials such as titanium and Weldural reveal the inherent vibrational behaviour of metal. Standardised, industrially manufactured products such as nails or reinforcing steel, on the other hand, are often used in serial structures, as for instance by Günther Uecker, Manuela Tirler, or François Morellet. The particular appeal of their works lies in the tension between the recognition effect triggered by the building materials, and their integration into a new, artistic context. Finally, Kirstin Arndt and Jim Lambie make the most of the virtually unlimited plasticity of sheet aluminium. The cheerful, playful aesthetics in their brightly coloured reliefs put a smile on the visitor’s face.

With works by:

Sonja Alhäuser, Madeleine Dietz, Erich Hauser, Imi Knoebel, Jim Lambie, Camill Leberer, Thomas Lenk, Heinz Mack, Christian Megert, Gerold Miller, François Morellet, Ben Muthofer, Thomas Rentmeister, Dieter Roth, Günther Uecker, Manuela Tirler, Martin Willing