Look at me

„Schau mich an“ (“look at me”), pictures and ceramics from the collection

duration:                   April 14th – October 6th, 2024
opening:                    Sunday, April 14th, 2024, 3:00 p.m
welcome speech:      Lisa Inckmann, head of museum
introduction:             Joseph Lange, Master's student in art history, university of Münster
music:                       Antonia Lückemeier and Gisline Kappenstein  (flute duo)
lecture:                     Dr. Judith E. Weiss / Berlin am May 26, 2024, 1:00 p.m

A pair of eyes are drawn and the paper looks back immediatly. A mouth underneath -  and it starts smiling. A nose too, but how big? Is that enough for a face? A wrinkle here, a dimple there. Don't forget your eyebrows. Every person's face is unique and forms part of their identity. It's not for nothing that people talk about “masking themselves” or “hiding their face” when they don't want to be recognized. But you can't take your face off. It accompanies you throughout your entire life and reflects our age and our experiences.

The exhibition presents 90 works by 17 artists: drawings, paintings and ceramics from the collection. Each of these works deals with the face in a unique way. Artist Nicole Szlachetka's ceramic works provide an insight into what is hidden behind the facades of her humorously crafted clay heads. Her busts, designed with irony and humor, can also be viewed from the inside. This reveals emotions that would otherwise remain hidden from the outside eye. The colored drawings by the Kazakh artist Rosa Benzel show people looking directly at you from the picture. The dark rim around the eyes particularly emphasizes the intense looks of the people depicted.

The exhibition “Look at Me” examines, among other things, the question of what a face can convey through its gaze and facial expressions. The works also show the diverse approaches that are possible to depicting a face.

artists: Rosa Benzel, Paul Berger, Robert Burda, Stephan Dürken, Helmut Feder, Hans-Jürgen Fränzer, Wilke Klees, Hermann König, Friedrich-W. Koch, Anton Kohls, Gerd Maron, Klaus Mücke, Helmut Paus, Muammer Savran, Gerd Schippel, Josef Schwaf and Nicole Szlachetka

Portrait photos by Ralf Emmerich

Ralf Emmerich's large black and white photographs of the residents can be seen in the foyer of the Kunsthaus and in the hallway of the historic old building on campus. Since 1992, he has regularly captured the residents and the studio situations with his camera for years. Further pictures by the photographer can be seen in the exhibition PHOTOGRAPHS 1977 - 2023 in the Stadtmuseum Münster (Münster City Museum).

Opening event: Live portrait drawing

On the day of the opening, a drawing event will take place together with artists, including Wilke Klees. On the terrace in front of the Kunsthaus you have the opportunity to have a portrait drawn of yourself. The drawings are presented on a line and can be purchased later.

Accompanying program for the exhibition

Participatory activity “Garden of Faces”:

For the duration of the exhibition, everyone is invited to create their own face/portrait on blank wooden panels in profile form. The finished faces will be presented on the lawn in front of the Kunsthaus.

Curator guided tours:

Sunday, May 5th, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Joseph Lange

Sunday, May 26th, 2024, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Joseph Lange

For further guided group tours, you can also arrange an appointment during the week from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tours are carried out by the curators of the exhibition: Lisa Inckmann, director of the Kunsthaus, and Joseph Lange, master's student in art history at the University of Münster.

Lecture on the topic of faces in art:

Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 1 p.m

The lecture by Dr. Judith Weiss / Berlin, deals with the meaning of the erasure and disfigurement of the human face. Her main research interests include contemporary art and its connections to earlier eras as well as the history of facial image. More information can be found on the website of the Max-Planck-Institut.

“Reading stage” of the writing workshop:

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m

Sunday, November 1st, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m

Free associations with the word “faces” became verses and even more verses with the image “faces”. The participants of the writing workshop examine the topic from their own perspective. What do faces spark in guided ballpoint pens? Who pops into my mind’s eye when I read “Face” and why?

An argument that is brought to the stage in order not to lose face, not to save it, but to show it.

authors: Ulrike Hoyer, Markus Ackfeld, Georg Kemper, Julius Südhoff and Andreas Lating