The exhibition presents a major retrospective of Jonathan Meese’s artist’s books ‒ from his small school notebooks to his large collage books ‒ in the artist’s own large, room-filling installation.

The book medium plays a central role in Jonathan Meese’s oeuvre. His first books were created while he was studying at the Hochschule für bildende Künste (HFBK) in Hamburg, and his legendary performances evolved in Franz Erhard Walther’s class from his readings of the texts in front of the wall installation. Meese’s mindset and working methods have produced an abundance of collaged material, which he has primarily manifested in books and notebooks.

Publication

An annotated catalogue raisonné of Jonathan Meese’s Artist’s Books, 1993–2025, published by the Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, accompanies the exhibition.

A special exhibition of the Kunstbibliothek (Art Library) – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in cooperation with Jonathan Meese’s Erzatelierz, the Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, and the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen