Kunstmuseum Bern

Marisa Merz (1926–2019) was one of the leading figures of the post-war Italian art scene, and closely associated with the Arte Povera group, the only woman to be so. The subtle power of her work is apparent in her relationship with silence and poetry, and in her search for the fragility of art corresponding to that of life. 

In her studio, the sculptor and installation artist transformed space and time into a large collage. At the same time, she moved between numerous art-historical references and a great variety of everyday objects and materials – from aluminium to clay, from copper to nylon, from wax to fabric. Thirty years after her first comprehensive institutional exhibition in Switzerland, the Kunstmuseum Bern is showing iconic artworks alongside works that have not previously been shown and archive material. 

Curator: Livia Wermuth

An exhibition of LaM – Lille Métropole, musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut, Kunstmuseum Bern and Fridericianum Kassel. In collaboration with Fondazione Merz, Turin. 

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Sexuality, madness, illness and death are the big themes that Carol Rama (1918 – 2015) addressed in her art. She is one of the outstanding modern women artists, who gained recognition late in life. 

As early as the 1930s, Rama paved the way for contemporary feminist art with representations of female desire and created an experimental, radical and personal body of work over a period of about seventy years. The Kunstmuseum Bern is showing the first comprehensive survey exhibition in Switzerland devoted to the Turin artist, with works from all the creative phases of her extraordinary oeuvre. 

Curator: Livia Wermuth

An exhibition of SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT in collaboration with Kunstmuseum Bern. 

Notice: This exhibition includes sexually explicit artworks. We suggest that children and adolescents under age 16 view it accompanied by an authorised person. 

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In 1933 the Kunsthalle Bern held the biggest retrospective of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in his lifetime. The German artist, now considered one of the most outstanding protagonists of classical modern art, curated the show in close collaboration with Max Huggler (1903–1994), the then head of the Kunsthalle and later director of the Kunstmuseum Bern. 

With Kirchner × Kirchner the Kunstmuseum Bern is looking back at that significant event, while presenting Kirchner as the curator of his own work for the first time. Central to the exhibition is the way in which Kirchner interpreted his artistic development, generously revising it by reworking his paintings or writing texts about Heimelf, and the connections that he established between his works. The exhibition includes some 70 works made in the period between 1908 and 1933, from renowned European and American museums and private collections. The selection of exhibits, in combination with the historical background, makes this ambitious exhibition project a unique and multi-layered experience.

Curator: Nadine Franci

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