Opening: Friday, May 22, 2026, 6–10 pm

The solo exhibition by artist Maximiliane Baumgartner (b. 1986) at the Kunstverein comprises several chapters. It takes as its point of departure Düsseldorf’s Nordpark, created in 1937 for the so-called “Reichsausstellung Schaffendes Volk” (The Reich’s Exhibition of a Productive People), but to this day only marginally reappraised. Building on her sustained engagement with spatial contexts and their social, political, and historical implications, Baumgartner turns to the park as a site where the continuities of National Socialism remain inscribed. Her work approaches these layers through a critical reflection on images and structures of power, treating them as fields of negotiation in the present. In this way, different timelines, public places, and the boundaries of art intersect to draw attention to gaps in canonical narratives and to create counter-images. At the center of this is the medium of painting considered as an activating means of documentary processing.

Maximiliane Baumgartner was invited by Kathrin Bentele.
The exhibition is curated by Clara Maria Blasius.