12 June – 22 August 2004    

Introduction | Cologne | von Bonin | Braun | Herold | Krebber | Kunath | Lindena | Events & Education

Friedrich Kunath Your Problems 2003 © The Artist, BQ Cologne/photograph by Bernard Schaub

In 1989 Tate Liverpool presented Art from Köln. Featuring the work of Klaus von Bruch, Marcel Odenbach, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Rosemarie Trockel and many others, the exhibition celebrated the rise of Cologne to one of the most important centres for contemporary art in the world.

Despite the shift of Germany's cultural epicentre to Berlin in the early 1990s, Cologne remains a major centre for contemporary art in Europe. Fifteen years after the original exhibition, Rhinegold: Art from Cologne presents the work of an exciting new generation of artists who live and work in Cologne today and embody the best of the city's rich contemporary art scene.

Making painting, sculpture, textiles and installations, the artists employ an exploratory and even playful approach to both traditional and non-art materials. Linked by a strong conceptual drive, their works are often inquisitive, questioning modes of art production and display. Exploring the legacy of their artistic ancestors, particularly those from post-war Germany, the artists in this exhibition revisit and subtly subvert forms and styles of art from throughout the twentieth century.

Cologne and Liverpool have been twinned for over fifty years and the exhibition is part of the cities' continuing cultural exchange. Rhinegold: Art from Cologne is part of the festival nrw@uk which presents a wide variety of cultural events from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Britain. Support for this exhibition has also been received from ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V.).