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In spring 2023, THE MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam will present the retrospective Nothing New, dedicated to the artist Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt (*1932 in Wurzen) and her artistic life's work between 1960 and 1990.

Veranstaltungen in Berlin: RUTH WOLF-REHFELDT - Nichts Neues
© Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt

The exhibition examines Wolf-Rehfeldt's typewritings, prints, collages, and paintings in three thematic episodes that open up new perspectives on the artist's oeuvre as a whole. 

The first episode, "Many Open Questions," focuses on tracing and overcoming physical, cognitive, and systemic boundaries. "Whether nature did not take over when it afforded humans?" is the initial question of the second episode. The themes of environmental degradation, environmental protection, and the relationship between man and nature recur in the artist's work. In addition, she dealt intensively with other socially relevant topics such as information technologies, feminism, interpersonal relationships, and the effects of the Cold War. The final episode poses the question "Where do you stand?" and invites viewers to reflect on their own viewpoints and beliefs.

As early as the early 1960s, Wolf-Rehfeldt wrote her first poems and, as a self-taught artist, created pastels, drawings, and paintings.

Her typewriter graphics, which she herself called "Typewritings," were preceded by a long and intensive exploration of images, writing, and language. Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt's first Typewritings were created in 1972, and the typewriter became her artistic means of production.

She experimented with the visualization of language and laid the foundation for her concrete poetry. In a manuscript titled Signs Fiction, the artist explained how pre-existing signs became the building blocks of fictional characters for her, giving new meaning to words and alphabetic symbols.

The properties of the alphabet became the material of her visual compositions. Thus Wolf-Rehfeldt used linguistic signs beyond their linguistic meaning and successively developed an independent formal language in her typewritings.

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt was connected to a large network of international artists known as the Mail Art movement. She and her partner Robert Rehfeldt pioneered this form of artistic exchange in the GDR, which allowed for the uncensored circulation of art and ideas.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Wolf-Rehfeldt ceased her artistic work completely, seeing the function of art production and dissemination fundamentally changed by the newfound freedom.

  • The exhibition is curated by Paola Malavassi and Marie Gerbaulet.


Opening: Feb. 10, 2022, 8 p.m.-2 p.m.
The building and exhibitions will be open on Friday evenings from 8-10pm. Access to the building as well as the exhibitions is by means of free time slot tickets booked online in advance. A visit to the house without a time window ticket is not possible on these evenings.



Additional information
Opening hours
Daily except Tuesdays
Wednesday to Monday 10-19
Dates
March 2023
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