The shadow in art

Shadows were already associated with art in antiquity: In a well-known myth, Dibutade, daughter of the potter Butades, traced the shadow outline of her lover's head with charcoal and thus invented painting. The shadow, connected to the body and yet not belonging to it, has always been given various meanings: Political, threatening or identity crises were expressed with it. The shadow with its uncanny effect played a particularly important role in Romanticism. Over the course of the 19th century, it developed into an important pictorial element in photography and later in film. For the first time, a German museum is dedicating an art exhibition to the phenomenon of shadows: From Dawn Till Dusk. The Shadow in Contemporary Art runs from July 3 to November 2 at the Kunstmuseum Bonn. It was curated by Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg.

Around 40 works of art from the past 70 years are on display in the exhibition. The shadow has developed into an image-giving, media-reflective theme of contemporary art. The exhibiting artists include Vito Acconci, Marlene Dumas, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Vadim Fishkin, Janice Guy, Jürgen Klauke, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, Kara Walker and Jeff Wall.

From Dawn Till Dusk. The Shadow in Contemporary Art is the farewell exhibition of Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg, who was director of the Kunstmuseum Bonn for 17 years. His internationally acclaimed exhibition highlights include Made In Germany (2007) and Der Westen leuchtet (2010).