GROUP SHOW
METAPHOR TO METAMORPHOSIS

KÖNIG MUNICH | NEUBAU
13 JULY 2024 – 16 MARCH 2025

OPENING
12 JULY 2024 | 6:30 – 9 PM

KÖNIG BERGSON is pleased to inaugurate its gallery within the newly constructed Bergson Kunstkraftwerk building with the group exhibition METAPHOR TO METAMORPHOSIS.

The exhibition draws inspiration from Franz Kafka, reflecting his exploration of identity and transformation in an ever-changing and threatening world. Central to the show are themes of personal, national, sexual, and other forms of identity, examined as unstable constructs that are constantly in flux and transformation, and often questioned by the artists.

Kafka resists categorization, and perhaps it is this elusiveness and indescribability that makes his work so captivating even 100 years after his death. The exhibition does not seek direct references or interpretations of Kafka, nor does it offer an art historical analysis. Instead, it draws from the aura of his work, the sense of relentless search, an attempt to understand the world, and often alienation. On four floors and nearly 1600 square meters, works by nearly 100 artists are presented, coming from both the primary and secondary markets. Without setting a strict route, the exhibition is structured into thematic areas by floor.

The first-floor features works by artists such as Petrit Halilaj, Nasan Tur, and Emily Jacir, who often question identity in the context of national and cultural-historical boundaries. The works of Esra Gülmen and Bjarne Melgaard draw attention to gender and sexual identity. While Gülmen deals with censorship based on the political situation in her native Turkey, Melgaard's works reflect his personal experiences. This floor's presentation includes various portraits by artists such as Xenia Hausner, Matthias Bitzer, Dennis Osadebe, and Alex Gardner, presenting different aspects of portrait painting and how art becomes an attempt to penetrate the image and understand the other, as well as oneself. Some more direct references to Kafka and his take on the topic of identity can be found in the works of FLATZ, David Černý, and Volker März.

On the second floor, diverse works are presented, united by a specific sense of time and history. Just as in Kafka's work, historical time remains simultaneously familiar and indefinable. Here, artists whose work deals with the concept of time and the ever-returning trauma of the past are featured. For example, Rachel Monosov presents concrete sculptures with uranium glass, appropriating details from Soviet monuments. Marya Kazoun showcases a large-scale Murano glass installation representing a landscape of an anonymous destroyed frozen city. The theme of historical trauma continues with earlier works by Karl Horst Hödicke, Anselm Kiefer, and a new diptych by Rainer Fetting, depicting the ghosts of the (Berlin) Wall. Another example of an artist dealing with stories beyond historical time is Gian Maria Tosatti, whose installation presents a real love letter from a woman in the early 20th century, confined to a psychiatric clinic because of her sexuality.Gender and the body are central themes on the third floor. Artists such as Zsófia Keresztes, Agnes Questionmark, and Anna Uddenberg explore femininity and the metamorphoses of the body. Another artist investigating the fluid boundaries of gender and the body is Anouk Lamm Anouk. The works of Juliette Minchin deal with absence, transience, and transformation, and although almost abstract, they carry a strong sense of both body, flesh, and bodilessness. Another aspect of the topic of metamorphosis is showcased in the works of Joana Vasconcelos and Mona Ardeleanu, who, with their unique styles, transform familiar objects and images, abstracting them from their meaning and function.

Metamorphosis and transformation of matter is the central theme on the fourth floor. Various artists are presented here, including historical positions such as Isa Genzken, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, and Judith Hopf. Other artists whose work is based on the use of familiar, everyday objects, transformed beyond recognition, include Stephen G. Rhodes, Karla Black, Aude Pariset, and Anne Cathrin November Høybo. The works of Björn Dahlem are complex structures, often composed of familiar materials, which together create their own universe with references to scientific, historical, and philosophical motifs. Amalia Pica's delicate paperworks present another approach to transforming everyday life and objects, and in the context of the exhibition, they also refer to the crucial motif of bureaucracy in Kafka's work. The narrative of the exhibition concludes with the poetic image of Nicole Giesa’s anonymous astronaut. In recent years, she has developed a photographic series that deals with the concepts of alienation, isolation, and loneliness. Her astronaut seems to ask us, “Are we the strangers, or is the world strange?”

© Images Georg Stirnweiß

Exhibited artists: Kathryn Andrews, Anouk Lamm Anouk, Mona Ardeleanu, Daniel Arsham, Micol Assaël, Pariset Aude, Nairy Baghramian, Stephan Balkenhol, Eduardo Basualdo, Julia Beliaeva, Matthias Bitzer, Karla Black, John Bock, Armin Boehm, Monica Bonvicini, Rebecca Brodskis, David Černý, Michiel Ceulers, Hermann Czech, Björn Dahlem, Thea Djordjadze, Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Peter Dreher, Dickon Drury, Johanna Dumet, Elmgreen & Dragset, Amir Fattal, Rainer Fetting, FLATZ, Anaja Hvastija Gaia, Alex Gardner, Francesco Gennari, Isa Genzken, Nicole Giesa, Tue Greenfort, Esra Gülmen, Petrit Halilaj, Xenia Hausner, Camille Henrot, Gregor Hildebrandt, Karl Horst Hödicke, Ann Cathrin November Høibo, Judith Hopf, Emily Jacir, Robert Janitz, Brian Jungen, Tobias Kaspar, Marya Kazoun, Annette Kelm, Zsófia Keresztes, Anselm Kiefer, Jakob LenaKnebl, Diane Kotila, Kitty Kraus, Friedrich Kunath, Alicja Kwade, Brandon Lipchik, Kris Martin, Volker März, Justin Matherly, Bjarne Melgaard, Ryan Mendoza, Caroline Mesquita, Juliette Minchin, Rachel Monosov, Andreas Mühe, Dennis Osadebe, Danica Phelps, Amalia Pica, Paco Pomet, Agnes Questionmark, Celia Rakotondrainy, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Stephen G. Rhodes, Pietro Roccasalva, Julian Rosefeldt, John Seal, Erinc Seymen, Chiharu Shiota, Katja Strunz, Gian Maria Tosatti, Tatiana Trouvé, Oscar Tuazon, Nasan Tur, Anna Uddenberg, Ulay , Antony Valerian, Joana Vasconcelos, Alexander Wertheim, Johannes Wohnseifer, Manuel Wroblevski, Erwin Wurm, Guy Yanai, David Zink Yi, Allison Zuckerman.