In the exhibition “Tête-à-Tête. Köpfe aus der Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank,” visitors to the Kunstforum in Charlottenburg will encounter one of the most interesting series of works from the Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank: head representations. They are outstanding ambassadors for the collection, specialising in figurative art. The works of 22 artists, who mainly live in Berlin and Brandenburg, show the diversity of topics with examples from almost seven decades from 1950 to 2018. Since the modern era, artists have dealt more and more freely with the subject of “head representations,” detaching themselves from the classic portrait and creating fascinating interpretations. In the exhibition, form and expression are particularly in dialogue with material and technology.
Designed using concrete, glass, steel, cast stone and terracotta, the sculptural works by Horst Antes, Clemens Gröszer, Dieter Hacker, Christina Renker, Gerd Sonntag and Ulla Walter should be mentioned. The exhibition also includes diverse paintings, drawings and works on paper and graphics from important artists of the collection such as Gerhard Altenbourg, Luciano Castelli, Christa Dichgans, Rainer Fetting, Dieter Hacker, Angela Hampel, Martin Heinig, Burkhard Held, Helge Leiberg, Markus Lüpertz, Helmut Middendorf, Roland Nicolaus, AR Penck, Hans Scheuerecker, Erika Stürmer – Alex, Max Uhlig and Dieter Zimmermann.
Introduction to the exhibition “Tête-à-Tête. Köpfe aus der Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank” by curator Dr. Dörte Döhl
When it comes to the subject of the head in art, one first thinks of the traditional genre of the portrait. The art of portraits usually emphasised the individual’s personality, and these commissioned works were mostly created with the intention of self-portrayal or the staging of power. It is not uncommon to use the portrait as a fascinating documentation of history and cultural history. In modern occidental art of the 20th century, however, we often encounter head motifs that put the individual aside and instead, underline other aspects of being human or reinterpret physiognomy. It is not a matter of classical representation, but of recording emotions and experiences or states and perceptions.
Today’s artists can look back on around a century of development that has fundamentally expanded the way we view the human head. At the end of the 19th century, Edvard Munch, in his composition known as “The Scream,” used simple stylistic means to make the motion of fear tangible, especially in the face of his figure. A short period after the turn of the century, Pablo Picasso began to develop a new visual language. Inspired by African sculpture, he also changed the human figure by breaking open forms. Cubism focused on an object from several perspectives at one time and thus also changed the perspective of the human head in art.
This turn to abstraction was further developed in the 1920s by Paul Klee and Alexej von Jawlensky. Klee’s well-known painting “Senecio” shows a round face painted in a few strong colours. Here too the influence of African mask art is to be highlighted, but above all, the geometric design with square, triangle and circle demonstrates the strong influence of the Bauhaus, at which Klee taught. Jawlensky, who, like Klee, came from the circle of the artist group “Blauer Reiter,” proceeded more systematically. He dissolved the shape of the face into a pattern of lines and colours. Not only that, but he also created several series in which he systematically explored the subject. The “Mystical Heads” were the first to emerge, then the “Saviour heads” and finally he himself spoke of his “abstract heads”. Immersed in themselves, the faces radiate a spirituality that has its roots in religious art. The images look like new creations in the spirit of the Orthodox icons. Picasso’s “Weeping Woman” created in 1937 has become an icon of modern art. As a mirror of strong emotions, the sitter’s face shows pain in a haunting way. Created as a result of the war painting “Guernica”, the tragedy of the epoch is expressively captured in the form of Dora Maar’s partner.
The Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank comprises an extensive inventory of head depictions, of which only a selection can be shown in the exhibition “Tête-à-Tête.” The installations date from 1950 to 2018 and therefore span almost seven decades. Since “images of people” is a motto of the figurative collection, heads are an important subject matter among the works of art that have been collected over the last three decades.
The new figuration in the 1960s is represented by the steel head of Horst Antes, who became famous in particular with this type of representation or through the so-called “cephalopods.” His compact profiles explore the universal form of the subject treated in all cultures. Thus, the “head with standing figure, hoop and staff” also seems like an archaic symbol.
In contrast, Gerhard Alternbourg created filigree faces in countless works on paper. There are outstanding examples of this in the art collection the Berliner Volksbank. His “head” from 1971 confronts the viewer with a furrowed facial landscape in which memory is carved and at the same time transience is inscribed. Hans Scheuerecker devoted himself to the topic in a similarly intensive manner. The expressiveness of the line stands out in his “faces,” which playfully deal with elements of abstraction.
Outlines are often sufficient to associate a head shape, which Helge Leiberg also makes use of in “Wildheit im Kopf.” By “blending” the face with the figure of a female dancer, inside and outside views merge into one vision. While an emotional state is described here, in Ulla Walter’ “free thinker with an Archimedean point” openness in all directions is an expression of an attitude of mind. The hollow shape of the head embodies the opening to the outside and the absorption inward in thinking. A process that has to be explored again and again. Flowing transitions and openness are also themes in Gerd Sonntag’s glass sculptures. He has developed new techniques for his heads, which are made of several layers. The transparency of materials gives them a luminosity that at the same time causes the closed form to dissolve into light and colour.
The subject of contemplation is embodied by the thoughtful “astrologer” Markus Lüpertz, who seems to be a mediator between different worlds. The idealised head of Clemens Gröszer, which stands in the tradition of supersensible angel figures, also alludes to the earthly.
The powerful expression of Berlin’s “Neue Wilden” is dominant in Luciano Castelli’s monumental “Chinese Portrait” and Helmut Middendorf’s “Great City Head” from the 1980s. They are captured as free interpreted contemporary heads.
The subject of Rainer Fetting’s impressions of New York are men with hats. The big city encounters leaving fleeting impressions. With the hat as an accessory, the artist uses his possibilities as a director of the picture series.
Angela Hampel and Roland Nicolaus take up the fact that headgear or masks are traditionally used to stage a head. In their paintings “Selbst mit Maske” and “Selbstbildnis” they simultaneously pose the question of one’s own identity. Christa Dichgans shows her self-image in a sea of heads. In view of the diversity of being, she emphasises the necessity of the individual’s self-determination.
Dörte Döhl
A catalogue has been published to accompany the exhibition. This can be purchased for 5 euros plus shipping costs. If this should interest you, please send an email to:kunstforum@berliner-volksbank.de
22 minutes © Stiftung KUNSTFORUM der Berliner Volksbank gGmbH.
