Dix is Present
For the first time, Otto Dix’s oeuvre from the Nazi era is being examined in the context of a comprehensive exhibition. Deichtorhallen Hamburg reveals the shifting cultural and social parameters in the reception of Dix’s oeuvre, while at the same time showing how his work continues to hold great fascination with contemporary artists.
Starting out from his radical and provocative – and to this day popular – paintings of the 1920s, Otto Dix (1891-1969) went on to create an ostensibly apolitical body of work after 1933, whose visual language was far less aggressively critical of society. During the Nazi era, his previously striking depictions of German society morphed into partly subversive, partly subtle forms of contemporary social critique. Images of war and socio-critical milieu studies gave way mainly to landscapes, commissioned portraits and Christian allegorical subjects.
The artistic reception of Dix in terms of subject matter, political iconography, style as well as technical and genre-specific issues is the second focus of the show. The artistic impact of the abovementioned political censorship, conformity and political iconography in contemporary art takes centre stage and showcases works by a significant number of the world’s most renowned artists of our day. From John Currin to Cindy Sherman, each has been challenge or stimulated by means of appropriation and reinterpretation.
Although to date, the work Otto Dix created during the Nazi era had taken a backseat in both the public sphere and research, curator Dr. Ina Jessen and her exhibition at Deichtorhallen Hamburg, have successfully redressed this.
Words by Fabzirio Mifsud Soler
Images:
Ausstellungsansicht Anselm Kiefer, Am letzten Tor, 2020-2021, Teil der Ausstellung Dix und die Gegenwart in den Deichtorhallen Hamburg © Deichtorhallen Hamburg 2023, Foto: Henning Rogge
Monica Bonvicini, Mountain Town, 2017 © Courtesy Studio Monica Bonvicini Berlin und Galerie Krinzinger, photo: Studio Monica Bonvicini Berlin
Ron Mueck Woman with Shopping, 2013/2015 Collection Thaddaeus Ropac, © Ron Mueck, Foto: Eva Herzog
Tobias Zielony Yusuke, 2021 © Tobias Zielony
Paula Rego, Olga, 2003 © Paula Rego, Courtesy Marlborough International Fine Art
Kati Heck, Jungs III – Goldene Hand, 2022 © Kati Heck. Courtesy Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, photo: Tim Van Laere Gallery
Be part of our
community
Explore art, photography and design that inspires you. Discover new artists,
follow your favorites and connect with the creative community.
Duality of Ecstasy
The Duality of Ecstasy captures the complexity of human emotion through mime and rhyme. The new short film from Maltese director Keith Albert Tedesco explores the extremes that elevate us and estrange us into ecstasy through a series of vignettes interwoven with French narrative.
The veiled world of curios collecting
I used to collect everything. If I found myself with two objects of the same nature, I would find myself wanting more of them. Ten or so years back I started cutting out the general collecting and focused more so on curiosities. I’ve always loved the layers of curios shelves, skulls, bottles, objects of nature naturally formed into beautiful objects. It’s also nice to have objects that have a story behind them.
Janus Head
We asked four people that each have a history with drug abuse to share their experience while in a rehab journey. We took the best and worst bits from these altered real-life experiences and put them through an AI image generator. A pair of images are generated for each subject depicting the ecstasy and aftermath from their recollections. How accurately does AI capture the sentiment that words are trying to convey?
Powered by
Publications
Social
Legal