K21

Reinhard Mucha’s oeuvre, with its redefinition of sculpture, photography, and installation, is considered one of the most important artistic positions from the 1980s to the present. With the exhibition dedicated to the artist, who was born in Düsseldorf in 1950, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen will unite long unseen installations with works from all creative phases at its two venues, K20 and K21, starting on September 3, 2022, thus creating a panorama that spans more than four decades of artistic work.

Der Mucha – An Initial Suspicion is the first major survey exhibition of the Düsseldorf-based artist since the double exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bern and the Kunsthalle Basel in 1987. During his studies at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1975 to 1982, Mucha had already exhibited works that were groundbreaking for the artistic developments of the 1980s and beyond. This applies in particular to the significance of his multifaceted oeuvre in relation to the genre of installation, the institution-critical reflection of the art exhibition industry and the museum, and the handling of material in art, as well as to the awareness of history and the reflection of society. Especially when his works are experienced in context, contemporary and industrial history, as well as echoes of pop culture, are intertwined with the artist’s biography. In this way, Mucha succeeds in weaving together seemingly disparate thematic approaches into complex, meaning-laden structures of high sensual quality.

Der Mucha – An Initial Suspicion
With the title of the exhibition, Mucha refers back to the restaurant guide DER MUCHA, which was widespread in Austria in the 1980s and on which the design of the exhibition catalog is also based. Taking up Mucha’s almost sculptural handling of language and words, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen pursues the initial suspicion that his oeuvre needs to be explored anew in its entire breadth.

Curator: Falk Wolf