To the Stars!
_{Outer Space and Inner Longing since Modernism}

Since time immemorial, outer space has served as a powerful projection screen for human longing and utopian imagination. In the face of global crises, it continues to hold the promise of an alternative existence. With around one hundred works from modernism to the present day—including pieces by Max Ernst, El Lissitzky, Katharina Sieverding, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Emma Talbot—the exhibition traces how visions of cosmic awakening and the blurring of earthly boundaries have shaped artistic thought. The gaze into the cosmos reveals not only celestial dreams but also a profound reflection on our present and future.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the end of the world seemed near. The arrival of Halley’s Comet and fears of its collision with Earth stirred both anxiety and fascination. Amid rapid technological progress and growing rationalization, artistic imagination projected earthly concerns onto the vastness of space. The idea of space travel entered the realm of possibility, as knowledge of astronomy expanded dramatically.

Since the 1980s, however, critical voices have increasingly questioned the seemingly limitless potential of space exploration. Hopes of finding or creating life on a substitute planet have been met with growing cultural pessimism. The realization of Earth’s finite resources—set against human hubris and ecological misbehavior—has led artists to engage with new and urgent discourses.

Exhibited Artists

Jean Arp, Arno Bosselt, Michael Buthe, Walter Dexel, Minya Diez-Dührkoop, Max Ernst, Lucio Fontana, Heinz Grete, Wenzel Hablik, Johann Peter Hasenclever, Hannah Höch, Liesl Karlstadt / Karl Valentin, El Lissitzky, Joan Miró, Johannes Molzahn, Louise Nevelson, Otto Piene, Simon Quaglio, Man Ray, Odilon Redon, Alexander Rodtschenko, Luigi Russolo, Hans Salentin, Xanti Schawinsky, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Oskar Schlemmer, Lothar Schreyer, Lavinia Schulz / Walter Holdt, Carl Spitzweg, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Yves Tanguy, Étienne Léopold Trouvelot

Contemporary Positions

Yael Bartana, Sylvie Fleury, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Bjørn Melhus, Mariko Mori, Thomas Ruff, Mona Schulzek, Katharina Sieverding, Klaus Staeck, Emma Talbot, John Wood and Paul Harrison