Friendly Game. Grässlin Collection: Museum für Neue Kunst

For a new edition of the series Freundschaftsspiel | Friendly Game, diverse works ranging from classical modernism to the present day will engage in a dialogue with one another. Two collections supply the players: Martin Kippenberger, Isa Genzken or Mark Dion – from the heart of the Black Forest, the Grässlin family provides contemporary art of international standing. The Museum für Neue Kunst has positioned its own squad ranging from Max Pechstein to Amelie von Wulffen via Günter Fruhtrunk.

This joint appearance opens up exciting vistas. As a counterpoint to the idyll of the Black Forest, the Grässlin Collection focuses on controversial, political topics and adopts an unconditional approach to the new and the different: it is about power and morality, art and commerce, man and nature. Humorous, critical works from the 1980s encounter classical modernism's experimental forays into colour and form. The spatial installations address exhibition and collection activity and practice in and of themselves. As a result, the unexpected finds a home in the museum: unopened packages or a tree with living birds.

For more than thirty years now, the Grässlins have been collecting contemporary art in St. Georgen: initiated by the parents, taken on by the next generation. They all have their own points of view and interests – in itself a distinction among the large private collections in Germany. They are not merely interested in the works and their value, but also primarily in an interaction and exchange with the artists. This creates a unique familial contact. In football parlance, especially in the case of the Grässlins, collecting itself is a »friendly game«.

The exhibition will be framed by a series of artist talks, guided tours and workshops geared to a continuation of this exchange for all of those interested.

Artists: Max Ackermann, Michael Beutler, Cosima von Bonin, Mark Dion, Günther Förg, Günter Fruhtrunk, Isa Genzken, Georg Herold, Susi Juvan, Paul Kayser, Martin Kippenberger, Kalin Lindena, Stefan Müller, Christa Näher, Albert Oehlen, Max Pechstein, Tobias Rehberger, Amelie von Wulffen