June 3 – October 24, 2021, extended until November 21, 2021

As part of »beuys 2021« – a program of exhibitions and events at more than twenty institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia marking the 100th anniversary of Joseph Beuys’s birth – Museum Abteiberg presents two exhibitions that place the Beuys era and the present day in a comparative context. A new showroom features the first presentation to draw on the recently-acquired ANDERSCH COLLECTION/ARCHIVE and conveys the tremendous significance of archival work for the art of the 1960s and ‘70s.

A parallel presentation features a site-specific project that continues the great Mönchengladbach tradition begun with Beuys’s first museum exhibition in 1967: Artist Ghislaine Leung (b. 1980) was invited to shed new, critical light on the museum as institution in 2021.

Linking the two exhibitions are loans from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo (NL): four drawings Joseph Beuys produced in the course of an interview with Frans Haks in December 1975, in which the artist talks about the museum as an “intermedium” between artist and audience. Beuys’s thoughts were a point of departure and return for the curatorial teams behind both exhibitions, though the two approached the institution of the museum in very different ways. FIU Verlag, a German publishing house, printed and released the conversation between Beuys and Haks in the 1993 volume Das Museum. Ein Gespräch über seine Aufgaben, Möglichkeiten, Dimensionen… (The Museum: A Conversation about its Tasks, Possibilities, Dimensions….). The book is available for purchase in the museum store.

GHISLAINE LEUNG. PORTRAITS

PORTRAITS, Ghislaine Leung 2021; Courtesy die Künstlerin und MAXWELL GRAHAM / ESSEX STREET New York; Fotos: Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

A solo exhibition by Ghislaine Leung displayed at Museum Abteiberg from June 3 to October 24, 2021. The exhibition will comprise of works commissioned by Museum Abteiberg and produced over the duration of a year from 2020-21. This exhibition is curated by Susanne Titz and Haris Giannouras. This information is provided as per the required 600-800 characters and has been edited by Haris Giannouras, Ghislaine Leung and Susanne Titz. Details are correct as of February 2021 and are subject to change dependent on requirements and resources available.

WORKSHOP REPORT ANDERSCH COLLECTION/ARCHIVE (BEUYS)
Museum Abteiberg acquired the ANDERSCH COLLECTION/ARCHIVE – one of the world’s most extensive collections of Fluxus work and related material – in 2017; ever since, museum staff have been taking inventory of this wide-ranging new acquisition and preparing for its long-term presentation and storage. This exhibition offers a snapshot of the tasks at hand while also pointing to a number of questions: How should the collection, archive, and library be preserved, exhibited, mediated, and made accessible to researchers over the long term? Drawing on the archive’s collection of Joseph Beuys (one of over 50 artists represented), the workshop report tests the Schaumagazin, or display storage, as a new format for Museum Abteiberg. The exhibition is curated by Felicia Rappe and Denise Wegener. Research advisor ANDERSCH COLLECTION/ARCHIVE: Susanne Rennert.

The exhibitions are part of the anniversary program »beuys 2021. 100 years of joseph beuys«, a project of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in cooperation with Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Hans Fries Foundation and the Museumsverein Abteiberg.

Exhibition Pamphlet

PROGRAM

WORKSHOP REPORT COLLECTION/ARCHIVE ANDERSCH (BEUYS)
Exhibition talks
September 16, 2021, 6 pm: Felicia Rappe and Denise Wegener, curators of the exhibition
October 21, 2021, 6 p.m.: Susanne Rennert, scientific advisor SAMMLUNG/ARCHIV ANDERSCH and Susanne Titz, Director Museum Abteiberg

Guided tours through the exhibitions
August 15, 2021, 11.30 a.m.: Ulrike Engelke
September 19, 2021, 11.30 am and 2 pm: Caroline Eick
October 17, 2021, 11.30 am: Curator’s tour with Denise Wegener on the workshop report SAMMLUNG/ARCHIV ANDERSCH
November 21, 2021, 11.30 a.m. Curator’s tour with Haris Giannouras on Ghislaine Leung. Portraits

GHISLAINE LEUNG

online from August 24
ONLINE DISCUSSION
with Bruce Hainley, Fatima Hellberg, Susanne Titz, Haris Giannouras

October 3
GHISLAINE LEUNG
BOX CATALOGUE PRESENTATION

online from November 7
ONLINE DISCUSSION
Susanne Titz in conversation with Ghislaine Leung