Contemporary Art & Rheinish Expressionism
The Kunstmuseum Bonn is a sleekly designed space dedicated to contemporary art. The institution is centered around a collection of some 9,000 works, with an extensive group of works by August Macke and a focus on the art of the Rhenish Expressionists, as well as the important collection of art in Germany after 1945 with an emphasis on painting, photography and time-based media. When Josh and I caught a train out to Museum Mile one afternoon I had no idea I was heading into a spectacular contemporary art collection. I had assumed it would be a classic museum.
The beautiful staircase leading to the exhibits
Signage in this museum was predominantly in German, but enough was available in English to help understand the complex thoughts behind many of the contemporary pieces. Here are a few of my favorites.
One entire gallery was hung full of brightly colored robes reminiscent of those worn in part of Africa. Upon closer inspection it turned out all of the robes were made from paper "cloth!" The papers were decorated, painted, then held together with series of intricate folds ad cuts. The robes swayed and turned as you walked by, revealing all sides of the piece. Children and families can participate in this interactive piece by decorating papers at a table in the gallery.
Other Paintings
Alte Welt / Neue Welt: Stephan Huber
At first Huber's work just looks like a large scale map, not unlike those used in classrooms. But upon closer inspection it becomes apparent this is not just a random relic of an old school. Huber has defined the map, using negative space to create imagery, giving places new names to evoke ideas of social injustices. I highly recommend going here to look more in depth. Zoom in close!
August Macke and the German Expressionists
From the Kunstmuseum Bonn : "The brief history of the creative output of August Macke abruptly ended by the First World War, is tightly interwoven with Bonn. It was here that he lived for a few years with his family, set up a studio and, in 1913, organized the exhibition entitled Ausstellung Rheinischer Expressionisten (“Exhibition of Rhenish Expressionists”)."
When we visited the museum, one exhibition space was dedicated to Rheinish Expressionism, with a heavy focus on Bonn's favorite son August Macke. His works fit into the oeuvre of expressionism in general, with their bold streaks of color and emphasis on emotion instead of direct representation. This is one of my favorite artistic periods, so I spent quite a bit of time with each of these paintings observing the technique used in their creation, but also just getting lost in the colors and emotion.
The senses are our bridge between the incomprehensible and the comprehensible. -August Macke
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