Light Years - Amnon David Ar

Light Years brings together works created since his move to Berlin in 2013 and coincides with the publication of his art monograph of the same name. The exhibition will feature concerts and artist talks.

Curated by Martin Kiefer, the long-time curator of contemporary art at the Louvre, the exhibition offers a deep insight into the artist’s painterly oeuvre through the works created in Berlin. The large-format works depict everyday still lifes, overlooked details, portraits, and observations in which Amnon David Ar brings together figures, objects, and symbols in unexpected constellations. Engaging in a dialogue with art history, the paintings consistently offer deeply personal insights into the artist’s inner world. The exhibition is accompanied by an art monograph of the same name, published by Hirmer Verlag.

Light Years takes place at a unique location: the church on Hohenzollernplatz, designed by the Polish-Jewish architect Ossip Klarwein and today considered a masterpiece of German Expressionist architecture. Shortly before the church’s dedication in 1933, Klarwein was forced to flee Nazi Germany. As an architect, he later designed some of Israel’s most significant buildings, including the Knesset (Parliament), the Theodor Herzl Memorial, and the Dagon Grain Silo in Haifa. The colorful light in the church, created by its famous stained-glass windows, reflects the exhibition’s title—Light Years—as well as Ars’s work.

Light Years

• May 21 through September 3
• Church on Hohenzollernplatz, Nassauische Straße 66-67, 10717 Berlin