Cartoons and caricatures on life and death

An Exhibition in Cooperation With the Caricatura Kassel

33 cartoonists show in their works what awaits us all. In caricatures, cartoons and paintings the cartoonists take up the fight against the inevitable – because one thing is certain: as soon as you can laugh about something, it loses its horror bit by bit. Thus "Einer geht noch" ("One for the Road") shows that it is quite possible to laugh about the most serious matter in the world and also gives the instructions. Aspects of human demise are exposed to ridicule through the view of the draughtsmen, such as murder and suicide, health insurance and hospital, apocalypse and rampage or, of course, the personified death as a grim reaper. The digitalization of the world has also changed the way we deal with and use language with the last hour. Among the current references in the exhibition is the examination of topics such as explosive belts and 72 virgins. For the metaphysical level has always been a favourite field of caricaturists, heaven and hell are part of the classical repertoire of the artists.

Skulptoons by Siegfried Böttcher, i.e. three-dimensional cartoons, such as the Death Star by Michael Holtschulte, expand the spectrum of the exhibition. The monumental work "Nocturne – Satan opens the Redeemer" by Rudi Hurzlmeier was also presented. The painting, several square meters in size, was completed in a live painting action in front of an audience during the exhibition. The exhibition deliberately ties in with the opening exhibition of the museum in summer 1992. Already then the museum showed in cooperation with the Caricatura with the exhibition "Schluss jetzt!" ("Enough now!") cartoons and caricatures about death. As far as the participating artists are concerned, the current exhibition also picked up the historical thread and showed with Robert Gernhardt, F.K. Waechter, F.W. Bernstein, Hans Traxler and Chlodwig Poth, the current exhibition also picked up the historical thread and showed the masterful work of representatives of the "New Frankfurt School". The title motif at the time, "Schluss jetzt!" by the Hamburg artist Ernst Kahl, was also shown once again. Participating artists, such as Beck, Gerhard Glück, Greser & Lenz, Til Mette or Rattelschneck, were also already involved in the first exhibition in 1992. Drawers such as Katharina Greve, Hauck & Bauer, Kittihawk, Lilli Bravo, Piero Masztalerz, Denis Metz, Oliver Ottitsch or Joscha Sauer represent the next generation.

Represented in the exhibition:

Adam, Beck, Harm Bengen, F.W. Bernstein, Siegfried Böttcher, Lilli Bravo, Robert Gernhardt, Gerhard Glück, Greser & Lenz, Katharina Greve, Hauck & Bauer, Michael Holtschulte, Rudi Hurzlmeier, Ernst Kahl, Kittihawk, Mario Lars, Piero Masztalerz, Til Mette, Denis Metz, Oliver Ottitsch, Martin Perscheid, Thomas Plassmann, Ari Plikat, Polo, Chlodwig Poth, Rattelschneck, Stefan Rürup, Joscha Sauer, ©TOM, Hans Traxler, F. K. Guards, Freimut Wössner, Martin Zak