Die Errettung des Bösen. Eine Ausstellung von Michael Müller
Teil 1: An- und abwesende Schatten
Teil 2: Vergleichen, >, =
Group exhibition at Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg
26 November 2022 – 10 March 2023
Die Errettung des Bösen
The exhibition Die Errettung des Bösen [The Salvation of Evil], shown at the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg, is divided into two chapters, each of which is shown in a separate room, and takes a look at the theme of evil from different perspectives. The first part of the exhibition, subtitled An- und abwesende Schatten [Shadows Present and Absent], addresses the question of the “contamination” of artworks: This can mean both an ideological appropriation, a tendentious political-propagandistic approach or the censorship of supposedly worthless, in the terminology of National Socialism “degenerate” art.
In An- und abwesende Schatten works by artists are shown that were either part of the exhibition Entartete Kunst [Degenerate Art] or the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung [Great German Art Exhibition]. In 1937, works of art by predominantly Jewish artists that had been confiscated by the National Socialists were shown in the exhibition Entartete Kunst [Degenerate Art], which aimed to present works of art that deviated from National Socialist doctrine and aesthetic ideas as “inferior” and “degenerate”. Parallel to this show, the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung presented fascist aesthetics to the German people. Originally separated, they are presented here together, side by side, and in this way highlight the general question of how to deal with “contaminated” art in museums and their collections: Should these works of art—such as those in the Museum im Kulturspeicher—be shown and presented to the public? How can these works be exhibited?
From these questions different forms of presentation can be derived in principle: Must fascist and “degenerate” artworks necessarily be contextualized and didactically prepared? Do they have to be denied an independent aesthetic value and treated exclusively as historical documents and testimonies? This discourse is not limited to a museum visit, but has far-reaching social relevance. This is demonstrated by the fact that the cultural approach of the works in question affects the representation and presence of images in the public and collective consciousness: Are they kept as “evil” behind closed doors and thus possibly mystified or can they be used to reveal structures in today’s artistic approaches or in dialogue with other works of art, such as in this exhibition, to reveal structures that can only be reflected upon in this way? In order to make an ideological approach more difficult, a form of presentation is choosen that has the nature of an archive: In archives, objects are stored and arranged neutrally and according to strictly plausable criteria—chronologically, alphabetically, thematically, or simply by date of access. This sorting according to conditions external to the archives makes ideological appropriation more difficult, since only in a second step of interpreting the objects a functionalization or misappropriation for a pursued purpose can occur.
At the same time, however, judgments are already being made: The “contaminated” artworks are presented like shadows in the exhibition, like something that can be seen behind things, but also casts shadows on others and thus colors them. The corresponding works are shown in the exhibition architecture with dimmed lighting and without spotlights. On the one hand, the resulting effect makes them seem less present than the rest of the artworks and can only be discovered at second glance. At the same time, however, it provokes a more intense gaze on the part of the visitors, forcing them to move closer and immerse themselves in the darkness. With works by Simon Fujiwara, Willi Greiner, Paul Kinsler, Hedwig Maria Ley, Michael Müller, Emy Roeder, Elsa Sahal, Ferdinand Spiegel and Friedrich Watzka.
The second part of the exhibition, Vergleichen, >, = [Comapare, >, =], focuses on the method of comparison, which has been the dominant method of scientific research since the 19th century. Especially the natural sciences use this method, but also the empirically based social sciences, such as sociology. This exhibition, however, emphasizes the ethical dimension of the seemingly objective, neutral scientific claim of comparison, which, when applied to the human being as the object under investigation, can become a politically and socially effective instrument, as historically demonstrated, for example, by phrenology or racial studies. The method not only creates a possibility of categorizability and taxonomy, but also enables ideological use as a propaganda construct. Accordingly, the central artwork of this exhibition chapter, the large-format Index Vergleichen [Comparing] (2022), integrates, alongside excerpts from Kleine Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes [Little racial science of German people] (1920–22) by race theorist Hans F. K. Günther, of which Adolf Hitler personally owned four dedicated editions and which became the 'scientific' basis of National Socialist racial ideology, also an illustration from the exhibition catalogue Degenerate Art, showing a realistic portrait drawing next to two expressionist ones by Oskar Kokoschka and suggestively asking: “Which of these three drawings is probably a dilettante work by the inmate of a lunatic asylum? Be amazed: the one on the upper right! The other two, on the other hand, were once described as masterly prints by Kokoschka.”
Vergleichen, >, = shows comparative procedures in the most diverse ways, which on the one hand are given by the exhibition, but also invite the visitors to draw their own comparisons: Originals and reproductions are placed side by side, as in the case of the works of Andy Warhol’s Neuschwanstein Castle and Adolf Hitler, whereby the latter is only shown as a secondary document as a reproduction in a catalogue raisonné, which at the same time prevents fetishization as a work of art. Es gibt keine Monster [There are no monsters] (2010) presents two portrait drawings of the same person, which differ only in the depiction of a supposedly arbitrary attribute, a mustache, and yet in terms of content this comparison allows for two completely different readings. The standards by which works of art are measured against each other are also critically examined—whether it is the comparison of the artistic skill of a painter like Hermann Gradl with the rudimentary execution of the video game Death Race, or the market value of a work of art independent of historical significance or quality, as Salvator Mundi (2013/2017) suggests.
The artistic positions presented here—from the landscape painter Hermann Gradl and the post-war artist Fabio Mauri to outsider artists such as Albrecht Becker, Andy Warhol’s Pop Art, the sculptor Hans Josephsohn and the filmmaker Hanns Heinz Ewers—have so far always been considered separately from one another in art history, on the one hand due to different points in time of their work, on the other hand due to different points in time of their work, contrasting artist biographies and art movements of which they are representatives, different central points and approaches in terms of content, but also, on the other hand, due to the different artistic media of expression they use—from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation to film, video and computer games. Only now are they brought into dialogue with each other in Vergleichen, >, = through a unifying theme, that of evil, and thus become objects of comparison. The visitors must continue to spin the thread set by the exhibition in the comparison of the artists and artworks among themselves and with each other. With works by Albrecht Becker, Ferdinand Brod, Carolina Ebeid, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Edison Company, Hermann Gradl, Hans Josephsohn, Fabio Mauri, Michael Müller, Gerhard Richter, Benedictus de Spinoza and Andy Warhol.