ImPOSSIBLE

Impossible—or not? ImPOSSIBLE shows how art and its multifarious modes of expression can give form to phenomena that are unattainable in reality.

This exhibition pays homage to the power of the imaginary and presents artworks that envision the impossible as an alternative way of approaching our increasingly deceptive reality—with a healthy dose of irony and humor. Including works ranging from Yves Klein and Sigmar Polke to renowned photographers Jeff Wall, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky, from Anish Kapoor, Peter Fischli and David Weiss to artists such as Alexandra Bircken and Goshka Macuga, the show explores the very foundations of art and image-making, delving into the belief in art’s power and potential for displacing and creating everything—places and times, the proportions of things and their interconnections—anew.

Human imagination is opening up new worlds today, with mediazation and digitization inspiring a profusion of visual fantasies. The exhibition explores the different routes followed by artists who give their imagination free rein—in painting as well as in film and spatial installations. The result is a staging of the concentrated power of the imagination that touches on and thinks the impossible, securing substantial spaces of freedom for art in which subjective and artistic, serious and ironic, as well as social and political issues are addressed.

Belgian artist Wim Delvoye presents a Gothic-style truck, while his compatriot video artist David Claerbout reverses time, making a tree grow backward. Famed Conceptualist Yves Klein undertakes a seemingly risky attempt at flying, and photographer Andreas Gursky captures the exhilaration of speed in his monumental panoramas of Formula One races. They all experiment with unusual approaches to making images, enabling them to elegantly maneuver beyond the limitations of the laws of reality. Against the background of the ever-growing glut of digital images, ImPOSSIBLE is an eye-opening and astonishing survey that leads viewers through enigmatic and mysterious universes of images and objects.

The methods and topics are diverse: the works make use of targeted strategies for overwhelming visitors by challenging their perception of time and size. They make connections to film, question the possibilities and influence of artificial intelligence, and reflect phenomena of dreams and the subconscious, shifting constellations and creating new connections and networks as well as new contexts.

The exhibition is curated by Alexander Timtschenko.