Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz: The Art Show

Berlinische Galerie showcases from its collection The Art Show, 1963–1977, one of the major works by Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz. The installation recreates with irony the scenery of the opening of an art exhibition in a gallery. The husband-and-wife artists begun working on the idea of this nineteen-figure tableau during the 1960s: beside these figures, the scene includes fourteen collage-like works of art on the theme of casting the bodies for sculptures, furnishing and installing the gallery space, and installing electrical wiring. The mannequins are molded and dressed like artists’ friends and personalities from the art scene of the 1970s, while their faces are replaced with air conditioning vents and fans. Visitors can interact with the environment activating sound contents from the sculptures.