‘Klangwelten’ (Worlds of Sound) – LBBW Collection

Under the title ‘Klangwelten’ (Worlds of Sound), the LBBW Collection is exhibiting around 40 works on the theme of music, sound and resonance

• Collection presentation on 140 m², Stand B-305 in Hall 11.2.
• Curated by Barbara Thomann, curator of the LBBW Collection
• With works by: Max Ackermann, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Elizabeth Peyton, Martin Kippenberger, Raphaela Vogel, Rebekka Benzenberg, Isa Genzken, Gregor Hildebrandt, Annika Kahrs, Martin Kippenberger, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Elizabeth Peyton, Gerhard Richter, Anna Virnich and others.

Whether loud bangs, whispers or melodies – sounds accompany us everywhere. They make us prick up our ears or immerse ourselves in something. They can store feelings and memories or accompany actions with a unique sound. They don't even have to be audible: sometimes a gesture, an object or an image is enough to evoke sound associations and trigger an inner resonance.

Art offers countless examples of this. The exhibition ‘Klangwelten’ (Worlds of Sound), conceived especially for the 58th edition of ART COLOGNE, brings together works from the LBBW Collection that are connected in very different ways with sounds, noises or music culture – sometimes directly, sometimes hidden, sometimes purely associative. The spectrum ranges from painting of the 1930s to contemporary art.

The exhibition includes works by Ernst Wilhelm Nay and Max Ackermann. Here, music opens up paths to abstraction. Gregor Hildebrandt transforms the sound carrier into an image carrier, Elizabeth Peyton draws Kurt Cobain's hand. Stephan Huber shapes instruments into sculptures, while Martin Kippenberger intertwines the life of a musician with the visual arts. Olafur Eliasson lets waterfalls rush, while Annika Kahrs explores the social and communicative dimensions of music in her installations. The whispering of the bedtime ritual with her son finds a quiet echo in Anna Virnich's work. Regardless of era and medium, all works are connected by the fact that they create a resonance space that turns the relationship between the viewer and the artwork into a mutual experience.

The exhibition ‘Klangwelten’ invites visitors to explore this polyphonic web of references that make sound visible and art audible.

‘The LBBW Collection is enormously diverse. With our curated exhibitions, we present artistic positions in ever new and sometimes surprising combinations. “Klangwelten” focuses on the artistic traces of music and sound,’ says Barbara Thomann.

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With more than 3,000 works, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg owns one of Germany's largest corporate collections of modern and contemporary art. The LBBW collection is based on more than 50 years of collecting history and brings together nationally and internationally renowned artists. Today, the focus is on works that were created in Germany or by German artists within the last decade. Open to all media, the collection represents all artistic media.

The company uses various formats to make exhibits from the collection accessible to the public. For example, LBBW has long-standing partnerships with the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and the Kunsthalle Mannheim. Extensive exhibitions, such as those at the ZKM in Karlsruhe and the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, provide insights into the core of the collection. It makes works from its collection available on loan to both its partners and other institutions.

Through thematically designed trade fair presentations, the bank aims to actively engage in dialogue with the public – and at the same time make a social contribution to cultural education.