Renowned American artist Mark Bradford launches his much-anticipated first solo exhibition in Germany, marking the reopening of the historic Rieckhallen at the Hamburger Bahnhof. This bold showcase, entitled Mark Bradford: Keep Walking, features 20 dynamic works spanning two decades, including paintings, sculptures, expansive installations, and videos. The exhibition offers an immersive exploration of race, gender, and economic inequality, presenting a compelling narrative that engages both the mind and the senses.

The work of Mark Bradford b. 1961, Los Angeles, California, USA) is deeply rooted in socio-political issues, often reflecting the lived realities of Black Americans and drawing from his own experiences growing up in Los Angeles. His distinctive abstract compositions are crafted from found objects and everyday materials like posters and newspaper clippings, many of which are sourced from his hometown. This exhibition draws a powerful parallel between the journeys depicted in Bradford’s work and the history of the Hamburger Bahnhof, originally a 19th-century train station symbolising arrival and departure – key themes that resonate throughout Bradford’s œuvre.

One of the exhibition’s highlights is the monumental hanging sculpture Spoiled Foot, originally created for the US Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Also featured are the multimedia installation Pinocchio Is On Fire (2010/2015), which confronts the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, and the walkable floor painting Float (2019/2024), specifically adapted for this exhibition. Visitors are invited to physically engage with these works, becoming aware of their own movement through space and reflecting on the resilience of marginalised communities in the face of systemic violence and oppression.

Mark Bradford, a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, has held major solo exhibitions at institutions such as Tate, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2017, he represented the United States at the Venice Biennale. Beyond his artistic practice, Bradford is a co-founder of “Art + Practice”, a non-profit organisation in Los Angeles that supports foster youth and promotes access to contemporary art.

Event: Mark Bradford in Conversation

A public conversation with Mark Bradford will be held on Saturday, 7 September 2024, at 3 pm as part of the series “In Conversation”, funded by Deutsche Bank. Admission is free, and no registration is required.

Exhibition Catalogue

Accompanying the exhibition is the eighth edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale Milano, comprising 154 pages, available at Buchhandlung Walther König for €12. ISBN: 9788836656585

Curators

The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, Directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.

Following its run in Berlin, Mark Bradford: Keep Walking will travel to the Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA) in Seoul in August 2025 (7 August 2025 – 4 January 2026), and will be shown at the Kunstmuseum Bern from February 2026 (13 February 2026 – 5 July 2026).

The exhibition is supported by Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V.

A special exhibition by the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin