A comprehensive exhibition dedicated to contemporary artist, KP Brehmer (1938-97), co-produced by Neues Museum Nünberg and Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in Holland's Hauge and Arter, in Istanbul, will tour the three countries starting in Germany and ending in Istanbul.
Organized in reference to the 80th birthday of the artist, the exhibition offers a wide selection presenting pieces from Brehmer's collection spread over more than 30 years. Curated by Eva Kraus, Petra Roettig, Daniel Koep and Selen Ansen for their respective co-producer institutions, the exhibition titled "Art≠Propaganda," studies the projections of KP Brehmer's powerful artistic language on today's world.
Open at Neues Museum Nünberg in Germany until Feb. 17, 2019, "Art≠Propaganda" will be exhibited in Hamburg and Hauge in the same year. In March of 2020, it will salute visitors at the new Arter building in Istanbul.
KP BREHMER
Born in Berlin in 1938, KP Brehmer (Klaus Peter Brehmer) received his education on autography techniques and started to produce art with gravure. Starting in the 1960s, he produced works with an aim to visualize dynamics of capitalism and its effects on society. Working as an academic at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg from 1971 to 1997, the year he died, he looked for ways of making collective art with his students at the workshops.
In conceptual terms, KP Brehmen's works offer a critical approach to consumer society are related with the stream of Capitalist Reality that was created by Konrad Lueg, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter and Wolf Vostell in the aftermath of a group exhibition held in 1963. However, Brehmer developed a totally unique language, although he is close to that stream. Borrowing from mass media methods (diagrams, maps, statistics, surveys etc.) used by visual and print media, the artist exposed the detection and direction tactics of media. Thanks to the accessible language he used, KP Brehmer was a reminder for all that artists could raise awareness in society about issues such as politics, history and the environment.