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Anne Imhof. Angst II

14.09.2016 to 25.09.2016
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart

Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin will be showing Anne Imhof's work Angst II from September 14–25.

In the fall and winter of 2015, Anne Imhof (born in Gießen, 1978, lives in Frankfurt) showed Forever Rage, a review of her two work cycles Rage and Deal. With this collage of pieces combining her last exhibition and performance, she won the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2015. Now Anne Imhof returns to Berlin with her award winner presentation Angst II.

Angst is an opera in three acts that stretch temporally and spatially over three stations: Kunsthalle Basel, Berlin's Nationalgalerie – Hamburger Bahnhof and La Biennale de Montréal are presenting three exhibitions with the work of Anne Imhof in 2016 that, like three acts, are linked to one another. A first act was presented by the artist in June 2016 at Kunsthalle Basel. Angst II in Berlin forms the climax and turning point of this work complex. Anne Imhof will conclude the series of works with a third part that she will develop for La Biennale de Montréal. At Hamburger Bahnhof, the artist will present a pictorial composition for a limited time for ten days, consisting of music, text, sculptural elements and actors, falcons, and controlled drones that will form an overall picture.

Angst II divides the historic hall of Hamburger Bahnhof with a tightrope and a dense fog makes the architecture blur. The music of the piece embraces the entire exhibition space and subjects the painting to its own rhythm. While in the act at Kunsthalle Basel songs appeared as arias in a rather temporal order and the march, waltz, and ballad took on a role, the musical composition at Hamburger Bahnhof is played over individual systems. These spatial sound elements evoke memories of the stage set up of a rock concert or the house PA system. The pieces of music in Angst II were written especially for this act and support the work sometimes in a violently surrealist, comical way, sometimes very quietly. The compositions are primarily written for chorus, yet they are not sung by voices. They are segmented in their single tracks, played using the mobile telephones of the dancers, their sound is amplified by microphones that the dancers wear, and combine through the movements of the actors to form an orchestral whole. A tightrope walker crosses the semi-dark space like a clock that ticks and provides the pulse of the piece.

With Angst II, the historical hall of the Hamburger Bahnhof becomes the showplace of an "exhibition as opera," whose figures are combined in ever new constellations over the duration of the exhibition after the opening evening.

On September 14, the opening of Angst II, an "exhibition as opera," will take place from 8 pm to 1 am at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin; the performance variations will take place on September 15–18 and 22–25, from 8 pm–12 am. The admission to all performances is free.

As the winner of Preis der Nationalgalerie 2015 Anne Imhof will be honored with this solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin and her first publication, which will be published in winter 2016/17.

Angst II at Hamburger Bahnhof presents the second part of an opera in three acts (curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers und Udo Kittelmann). The first act of the opera was held at Kunsthalle Basel from June 9–19 (curated by Elena Filipovic). On October 19, La Biennale de Montréal (curated by Philippe Pirotte) presents the opera's third act.

The exhibition is made possible by the Freunde der Nationalgalerie and supported by BMW. The opera at the basis of the exhibition was coproduced by Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Kunsthalle Basel in collaboration with La Biennale de Montréal.

Exhibition website

Invalidenstraße 50 - 51
10557 Berlin

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