mmkfrankfurt

Gustav Metzger Untitled, 1950 Dating from 1956 are paintings and a much greater quantity of drawings, many in colored chalks. Of his religious upbringing and its effect on his artistic practice, Metzger reflected, “I was raised in a Jewish Orthodox environment, so there was a fascinating clash in my youth between art and the Jewish insistence on the prohibition on images. This is at the centre of my work: on the one hand, opening up to the world and, on the other, closing off from it. I arrived in Britain as a refugee when I was 12 years old, so I never came to the point of choosing between art and tradition because, by the time I would have been faced with such choices, I had already left my hometown and gone in a completely new direction.” —Becoming Gustav Metzger, 2021 [Image description: Upon varying hues of light red, traces of figurations and black silhouettes collide.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Untitled, 1950, The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation, London (UK), © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: Axel Schneider These works are part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah Corner Dry Lungs “What you say is not necessarily the reason behind what you do. There is a connection, of course, but it does not have to be causal. I think it’s important to keep emphasizing that again and again. Therefore, when I describe this approach as part of my process of mourning, that is not the reason I do it; rather, the process is simply part of the gesture. This raises the question of the conscious and unconscious motives behind a decision. I believe that reflecting on a work of art should also provide an opportunity to identify and formulate the unconscious motives for an action, treating them as significant.” —Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah in conversation with Lukas Flygare and Susanne Pfeffer [Image description: The image shows a close-up view of black analog photo paper, mounted on flat, rectangular panels.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #zollamtmmk #akosuaviktoriaadusanyah #cornerdrylungs @ava.silvery ___ Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, Corner Dry Lungs, 2024, installation view, © the artist, photo: Mathilde Agius The exhibition “Corner Dry Lungs” by Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah is on view at ZOLLAMT MMK (28.09.2024–02.02.2025)

Gustav Metzger Portraits of Children (Untitled), c. 1949 What initially strikes the viewer when looking at Gustav Metzger’s Portraits of Children is the seriousness of the expressions. Whether his subject is a boy or a girl, sketched using just a few contoured strokes, the facial expression is always solemn. All the lightness of an untroubled childhood, free from responsibility, has given way to an expressive immobility that can scarcely be encapsulated in words like grief or melancholy. That might not be surprising given Metzger’s history and that of the Kindertransports, which brought children from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom. After all, on those journeys, he would have witnessed expressions of abandonment and uncertainty on faces other than his own, too. [Image description: On a blue field of color, the contours of a children's face is briefly sketched out.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Untitled, 1949, The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation, London (UK), © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: Axel Schneider This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Gustav Metzger Portraits of Children (Untitled), c. 1949 What initially strikes the viewer when looking at Gustav Metzger’s Portraits of Children is the seriousness of the expressions. Whether his subject is a boy or a girl, sketched using just a few contoured strokes, the facial expression is always solemn. All the lightness of an untroubled childhood, free from responsibility, has given way to an expressive immobility that can scarcely be encapsulated in words like grief or melancholy. That might not be surprising given Metzger’s history and that of the Kindertransports, which brought children from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom. After all, on those journeys, he would have witnessed expressions of abandonment and uncertainty on faces other than his own, too. [Image description: On a blue field of color, the contours of a children's face’s side profile are briefly sketched out.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Untitled, 1949, The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation, London (UK), © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: Axel Schneider This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Gustav Metzger Portraits of Children (Untitled), c. 1949 What initially strikes the viewer when looking at Gustav Metzger’s Portraits of Children is the seriousness of the expressions. Whether his subject is a boy or a girl, sketched using just a few contoured strokes, the facial expression is always solemn. All the lightness of an untroubled childhood, free from responsibility, has given way to an expressive immobility that can scarcely be encapsulated in words like grief or melancholy. That might not be surprising given Metzger’s history and that of the Kindertransports, which brought children from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom. After all, on those journeys, he would have witnessed expressions of abandonment and uncertainty on faces other than his own, too. [Image description: On a blue field of color, the contours of a children's face is briefly sketched out.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Untitled, 1949, The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation, London (UK), © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: Axel Schneider This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah Corner Dry Lungs “Black is white, and one cannot exist without the other. That is also a fundamental aspect of photography. Between white and black, there are infinite gradations of gray. There is an interdependence, a very close relationship, between the two. Then, it comes down to perspective, the intensity, and the specific moment in time. But black is white. It’s both. In the end, white can really only be defined by a contour. I am also interested in the colors that the paper’s emulsion introduces. According to convention, the white paper remains pure white in darkness and undergoes a controlled exposure. All the nuances of lemon yellow and pastel, salmon, and apricot are not normally of interest because they mean the destruction, contamination, and uselessness of the material. But I am particularly intrigued by these color landscapes. For me, the meaning of color lies in the appreciation of color per se. If you wish to politicize this, you probably can, and that is also in the work. However, I don’t enter the process with that thought. The starting point is really my love of developing the colors.” —Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah in conversation with Lukas Flygare and Susanne Pfeffer [Image description: The image shows crinkled, glossy black analog photo paper that reflects light in uneven patterns. A vertical matte black wooden underground contrasts with the textured, shiny surfaces to its left and right.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #zollamtmmk #akosuaviktoriaadusanyah #cornerdrylungs @ava.silvery ___ Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, Corner Dry Lungs, 2024, installation view, © the artist, photo: Mathilde Agius The exhibition “Corner Dry Lungs” by Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah is on view at ZOLLAMT MMK (28.09.2024–02.02.2025)

Gustav Metzger Family at the Table, 1950 Gustav Metzger’s Family Pictures, as he dubbed a series of drawings, have a fragility that goes beyond the images themselves. Moreover, the artist did not shy away from capturing his earliest memories in these drawings: two of them depict a small bathtub between two figures, presumably a mother and child, with the sketch of the child rendered faintly in less prominent lines. There are two more people in the picture. It would not be an overinterpretation to see these as embodying Metzger’s own family, namely his parents and brother. He himself stated that the image of his mother bathing him was his first memory. Yet what appears to be the record of one of the most intimate moments in anyone’s life—their first memory— was then swiftly deprived of its privacy by Metzger as he progressed with his Family Pictures. For one thing, there are more people in three further pictures; the four subjects have now become five. For another thing, the family has been arranged in imitation of a classical model: Rembrandt’s "Family Portrait" (c. 1665/68), also known as the "Brunswick Family Portrait." [Image description: The two drawings show three figures positioned around a table, with a child sitting on the table. The backgrounds are minimal, with a single horizontal line hinting at the space.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Family at the Table, 1950, Courtesy The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation © VG Bild-Kunst, 2024, photo: Axel Schneider These works are part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Protest and Survive, 1980 Protect and Survive, 1980 “Messages to the British Public From the Right Hon. William Whitelaw, MP, Home Secretary: ‘Most houses in this country offer a reasonable degree of protection against radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions and protection can be substantially improved by a series of quite simple do-it-yourself measures.’ (The Times, 12 February 1980) From Mr. Eldon Griffiths, MP for Bury St Edmunds: ‘In the event of (...) demonstrations by political zealots it is better that British military police rather than Americans should be doing the job of protection.’ (Hansard, 24 January 1980)” —Protest and Survive, p. 2 The “Protest and Survive” pamphlet campaigns for a nuclear-free Europe dismantles government advice and explains to citizens how they can advocate for peace and their own interests in society. It very clearly states the content of the original pamphlet “Protect and Survive”, sent out to millions of citizens in the UK, as absurd and instrumentalizing. [Image description: 1 – features a pamphlet cover with a bright orange background. The text "PROTEST AND SURVIVE" appears in large white capital letters at the top, with a central circular emblem containing a simplified illustration of a family—two adults and two children. 2 – This image follows a similar layout but uses a gradient background that transitions from black at the top to orange at the bottom. The text reads "PROTECT AND SURVIVE" in the same bold white font. The circular emblem also shows family this superimposed by a transparent grey peace symbol.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Protest and Survive, 1980, pamphlet published by Edward Palmer Thompson, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament & The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, London, 1980, MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST, photo: Axel Schneider Protect and Survive, 1980, pamphlet published by The Central Office of Information & Home Office, London, 1980, MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST, photo: Axel Schneider These works are part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Gustav Metzger Untitled, c. 1946 Gustav Metzger’s depictions of pregnant women and embryos at the stage of implantation in the uterus are a part of what he himself termed the “realistic phase” of his painting. Although the pregnant women might have been created from living models, the embryos are obviously copied from scientific drawings. For one, the topic can clearly be attributed to a concern with emerging life, the fragility of which was a central theme throughout Metzger’s life. Beyond that, it also acquires a religious or spiritual connotation. As the offspring of a religious Jewish family, Metzger had been introduced to the culture of debate over the Torah and Rabbinic Judaism; he therefore never doubted the divine gift of life. Life had been granted to humans by God, but humans never did and still do not have a right to rise above the Lord in matters regarding the emergence of life. In contrast to Christian fundamentalisms, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic, Jewish discourse explicitly includes a scientific grasp of life on Earth in this approach. [Image description: The image features a vibrant abstract artwork composed of a swirling, dynamic composition. A prominent bright red circular form dominates the center, surrounded by bold black and red lines that spiral and curve outward. The background is textured with lighter tones.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Untitled, c. 1946, Courtesy The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation © VG Bild-Kunst, 2024, photo: Axel Schneider This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Guided tour with curator Julia Eichler and Dr. Johannes Lothar Schröder 4 December 2024, 5:00pm Curator Julia Eichler and Dr. Johannes Lothar Schröder, author and researcher on performance art and contemporary references in works of visual art, invite you to a guided tour of the Gustav Metzger exhibition. The focus is on the 1960s with its destructive tendencies and Autodestructive Art in particular. While the war generation made little mention of the world wars, after the Cuban Missile Crisis the expectation of destruction, which the atomic bomb dropped in Japan had terrifyingly demonstrated, was constantly present. The nuclear weapons armament and the Vietnam War, present in the media, brought the young generation onto the streets to campaign for peace. Dr. Johannes Lothar Schröder, a contemporary witness to early performance art and an expert on the Hanns Sohm Archive, which has kindly made the photographs of the ‘Destruction in Art Symposium’ available for the exhibition, will talk about the artistic movements of the time. The impetus at the time came not only from the universities, but also from the exchange of ideas in bookshops, pubs, during happenings and at demonstrations. The guided tour is a dialogue format in which everyone is invited to ask questions. Please register for this event by calling +49 69 212 40691 (Mon-Thu, 9 am - 2 pm) or by sending an email to kunstvermittlung.mmk@stadt-frankfurt.de. [Image description: The photographic images capture people at a symposium that unfolds across two settings. People are gathered indoors, sitting, participating in lectures by Gustav Metzger, Yoko Ono, Wolf Vostell, and others. Outdoors on the spacious playground of the London Free School, artists are actively experimenting with different materials. There is smoke. A small crowd, including children and adults, watches attentively.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger @johnicon @staatsgaleriestuttgart ___ Destruction in Art Symposium (DIAS), London, 9–11.09.1966 © Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Archiv Sohm, photos: Hanns Sohm The photographs are part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Gustav Metzger Selbstbildnis eines Unbefleckten, 1946 “In my youth I was torn between two directions in art: the extremes, the warm and the sensuous or a facing up to pain and agony (…) the two poles are always present.” —Gustav Metzger in an interview with Andrew Wilson, 1998 “But in that sense, the future is very promising, because it does give you at least the time, the opportunity, to reflect on the possible, or an openness to the future. I think it’s terrible if people lose that openness, as so many people do now with the tragedies in the world, with the worldwide wars and famines and natural catastrophes that we have been having. When one is in that state and there is no hope—and not only is there no hope, there is no way out at all—this is utterly horrific. And it’s man-made, this is unforgivable. And the pressure of having to live with that knowledge is for me at times extremely difficult.” —Gustav Metzger, Oral History Interview (C466/292), 2009, British Library [Image description: A painting with rough wooden borders depicts a skeletal figure with elongated limbs and a narrow torso rendered in shades of blue, white, and black. The figure stands in an abstract, swirling background of dark tones.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Selbstbildnis eines Unbefleckten, 1946, Courtesy The Gustav Metzger Foundation and Hauser & Wirth © VG Bild-Kunst, 2024, photo: Frank Sperling This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)

Gustav Metzger Strampelnde Bäume, 2010/2024 “New realism. The most vital movement now. However inevitably its course is now one of increasing commercialization. Nature imitates art. New realism was a necessary step toward the next development of art. The world in its totality as work of art. Including sound. Newspapers. New realism shows the importance of one object or relationship between a number of objects. This obviously is the first step to a large ensemble, the total relationship of objects including the human figure. You stinking fucking cigar smoking b******* and you scented fashionable cows who deal in works of art.“ —Gustav Metzger in “Manifesto World” (1962) [Image description: A row of inverted trees with exposed speaded roots is planted in large, square, concrete planters. In the background is a lush park with greenery framed by modern glass skyscrapers.] #mmk #mmkfrankfurt #museummmk #towermmk #gustavmetzger ___ Gustav Metzger, Strampelnde Bäume, 2010/2024, The Estate of Gustav Metzger & The Gustav Metzger Foundation © VG Bild-Kunst, 2024, photos: Axel Schneider, Frank Sperling This work is part of the exhibition “Gustav Metzger” at TOWER MMK (27.07.2024–05.01.2025)