Berlin has been drawn by its history, by triumphs and fiascos, by feudalism, pragmatism, liberalism, democracies and dictatorships. It has also been drawn and painted by many artists. The Berlinische Galerie holds one of the biggest and most significant collections of art about the city of Berlin. A special selection will go on display from 7 August, in many cases for the first time. More than 175 works by 22 women and 47 men will be on show: mostly drawings in all formats from big to small, much in colour, much in black-and-white, in very different techniques and in a variegated bouquet of representational art, photorealism, surrealism, late Expressionism, abstract styles, illustrations and comics. “Drawing the City” is structured in six chapters and features artists of world renown – among them Rainer Fetting, K.H. Hödicke, Tal R, Tacita Dean, Wolf Vostell – but also plenty of time and space for discoveries and rediscoveries of powerful works and powerful biographies of artists like Gabriele Basch, Thomas Bayrle, Gertrude Sandmann, Werner Heldt, Evelyn Kuwertz, Klaus Vogelsang. Exhibition curator Annelie Lütgens explores this fascination with the metropolis, links East with West. Traces of history can be detected in many works, and there are flickers of visual memory from Berlin in the Weimar Republic. This year Berlin marks the centenary of its birth in its current contours with a range of events and shows; “Drawing the City” is part of the celebration.

Participating artists

Franz Ackermann, Patrizia Bach, Heike Kati Barath, Volker Bartsch, Gabriele Basch, Thomas Bayrle, Norbert Behrend, Günter Blendinger, Bettina Blohm, Joachim Böttcher, KP Brehmer, Gisela Breitling, Catherine Bührendt-Métais, Tacita Dean, Arved Dietrich, Antje Dorn, Marcel van Eeden, Klaus Ensikat, Rainer Fetting, Karin Fleischer, Terry Fox, Friedrich-Wilhelm Fretwurst, Antje Fretwurst- Colberg, Lothar Gemmel, Dieter Goltzsche, Elli Graetz, Claus Haase, Sarah Haffner, Frank Hartung, Bertram Hasenauer, Eberhard Havekost, Werner Heldt, Thomas Hermsdorf, K.H. Hödicke, Günther Horn, Jan Huber, Friederike Klotz, Mark Kubitzke, Evelyn Kuwertz, Wolfgang Leber, Rolf Lindemann, Pia Linz, Theresa Lükenwerk, Susanne Mahlmeister, Marwan, Monika Meiser, Katharina Meldner, Florian Merkel, Nanne Meyer, Gisela Neumann, Michael Otto, Tal R, Thomas Ravens, Robert Rehfeldt, Klaus Roenspieß, Alexander Roob, Jürgen Rosemann, Gertrude Sandmann, Antonio Saura, Egmont Schaefer, Eugen Schönebeck, Andreas Seltzer, Malte Spohr, Walter Stöhrer, Bernd Trasberger, Emilo Vedova, Klaus Vogelgesang, Wolf Vostell, Gerd Wessel.

Liebe Gruesse aus Graz von Superstudio

“The scope of the works is to create, through a limited utopia of the future, responsible
guidelines to act in the present.”
Superstudio, 1969

“The point is that when we look now at collages like the Continuous Monument we
consider them as works of art, as sort of surrealist works of art; but in my opinion they
were not works of art, they were illustrations of theories. They were illustrations of political
manifestos.“
Adolfo Natalini, 2018

In 1969, Superstudio realized the installation La Stanza die Graz [The Room of Graz]—the
only built version of their iconic Continuous Monument—as a contribution to the tri-national
biennial Trigon in the city of Graz. Through an extensive research at the archives of Neue
Galerie and steirischer herbst, Bernd Trasberger developed a video work, which contrasts
historical documents and works from the Graz archives with contemporary quotes and
reflections on the legacy of Superstudio today quoted from the email conversations of Bernd Trasberger with Superstudio's former members in early 2019.
Four actors matching the appearance of Superstudio’s Gian Piero Frassinelli, Roberto
Magris, Adolfo Natalini and Christiano Toraldo di Francia 50 years ago, venture into their
own past staged at the collection depot of Neue Galerie.
But there are markers that betray the first impression of a forced re-enactment: While
reciting Superstudio’s archival texts from 1969 and emails from 2019, one of the actors
quite visibly wears a smart watch and other pieces of contemporary garments. All actors
wear blue plastic conservator’s gloves that signify the preservation of the arts and the
cultural heritage of taking responsibility for the history for present and coming generations.

In Memoriam Cristiano Toraldo di Francia and Adolfo Natalini who both passed away shortly after the video was finished.