Artchamber Rau: The Four Elements

22. Sep 2019 – 01. Jun 2020

  • Johann Martin von Rohden (1778–1868), Die Kaskade von Tivoli, 1825 Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck / Sammlung Rau für UNICEF
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    Johann Martin von Rohden (1778–1868), The cascade of Tivoli, 1825
    © Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck / Collection Rau for UNICEF
  • K. M. Asad, Bangladesch: Cox’s Bazar: Der Exodus der Rohinga  2017 (2. Platz)
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    K. M. Asad, Bangladesch: Cox’s Bazar: The Exodus of the Rohingya 2017 (2nd place)
    © 2017 K M Asad. All Rights Reserved
  • Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), Chaumières à Auvers-sur-Oise, 1873
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    Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), Chaumières à Auvers-sur-Oise, 1873
    © Private Collection
  • Kai Löffelbein, Unser Müll in Afrika  2011 (1. Platz)
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    Kai Löffelbein, Our waste in Africa 2011 (1st place)
    © 2011 Kai Löffelbein / Agentur Laif. All Rights Reserved
  • Ausstellungsansicht, Kunstkammer Rau, Thema Luft (Mittelraum), Foto: Helmut Reinelt
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    Installation view, Artchamber Rau, photo: Helmut Reinelt

About the exhibition

What keeps humankind and the world together? An exhibition at the Artchamber Rau consecrated to the four elements: earth, fire, water and air.

The show embarks on a search for traces from the Middle Ages to the present through 42 paintings and sculptures from the Rau Collection for UNICEF, which will enter into an exciting dialogue with 20 award-winning documentary photographs from the UNICEF »Photo of the Year« contest. It thus can also be seen in the context of the parallel presentation of Otto Piene’s works, who intensively dedicated himself to the elements in his fire pictures, ceramics, light and air sculptures.


The world seems to be intact in the celestial images of the Middle Ages, exuberant the wealth of treasures of earth and water in the baroque still lifes, and the power of the elements becomes palpable in the descending water masses of the Cascade at Tivoli by the romantic Johann Martin von Rohden. In contrast and entirely committed to the moment, the Impressionists’ vast surfaces of sky and water are glistening in the light. But in Monet’s flood image the first signs of climate change are already visible. However, in the photographs that depict our current use of the precious resources of water, earth and air, the problem becomes obvious. The balance between macrocosm and microcosm, between humankind and environment that has been praised since ancient times, is at risk of being tipped. What is endangered is what keeps us and the world together: the four elements.

Kooperationspartner

Ansprechpartner

Curator - Art Chamber Rau

Dr. Susanne Blöcker

+49 2228 9425-68
bloecker@arpmuseum.org

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