Think Freely, Create Anew! The Collection in View

The collection presentation Think freely, create anew! traces with selected works the path of art as a reflection of social and artistic freedom. The permanent exhibition begins in the late 19th century when tradition reared its head one last time and attempted to assert its place. However, the defining features of art at this time were to challenge tradition and experiment with new forms of expression.

In the 20th century, the quest for freedom continued to grow. Many artists took the path towards abstraction, while the representatives of the New Objectivity created counter-worlds to the political reality. It would be remiss though, to overlook the profound ramifications of the 1. and 2. World Wars on the newly acquired autonomy: Numerous artists in the collection were considered ‘degenerate’ under National Socialism and were banned from practising their profession. The abstract tendencies of informal and constructivist art, which could unfold with full force in the second half of the century, are an expression of the liberation.

The call for individual and social independence is also fundamental in the works of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. While Georg Baselitz broke with conventions by turning his motifs upside down, thus demonstrating artistic autonomy as a radical act of self-assertion, Inge Mahn’s sculptural interventions thematise freedom as a way of questioning familiar structures and rethinking space. Salomé, on the other hand, used an expressive painterly gesture to place his own self-presentation and sexual identity at the centre of his art.

Meanwhile, contemporary artists such as André Butzer, Hell Gette, Andrew Gilbert, Mehmet & Kazim and Evan Roth question how free we really are from a contemporary perspective. The collection presentation thus impressively demonstrates that the question of freedom – its achievements, its threats and its future – remains as topical as ever.

Artists in the exhibition:
Georg Baselitz, Willi Baumeister, André Butzer, Peter Brüning, Maria Caspar-Filser, Rolf Cavael, Günter Fruhtrunk, Otto Dix, Rupprecht Geiger, Hell Gette, Andrew Gilbert, Martha Hoepffner, Karl Hofer, Ida Kerkovius, Franz von Lenbach, August Macke, Inge Mahn, Mehmet & Kazim, Salomé, Oskar Schlemmer, Emil Schumacher, Max Slevogt, Anton Stankowski, Hans Thoma, Wilhelm Trübner, Woty Werner, and many more

Curator: Hannah Eckstein
Curatorial assistant: Marisa Zeising

Exhibition opening: June 28, 2025, 6 pm

The exhibition is part of the Sindelfingen Biennale, which is taking place from 28 June to 26 July 2025 under the motto ‘Freedom and Responsibility’ with numerous events.