Traces du Sacré at Haus der Kunst (Munich, Germany)

John Giorno. Eating the Sky, 1989. Acrylic on Leinwand . 51 x 51 cm. © John Giorno

September 19th, 2008 - January 11th, 2009

The beginning of the 20th century is marked by the impression of faith’s foundation being shaken to the core. Nietzsche’s declaration, “God is dead” (1881/1882) and Max Weber’s assertion of the “disenchantment of the world” (1904) revealed just how much people’s relationship to religion had changed. Yet this did not signify the end of the metaphysical in art; rather it is metaphysical questions that maintained their significance for artists from Wassily Kandinsky to Francis Bacon, from Joseph Beuys to Damien Hirst. 

“Traces du Sacré” brings together 200 works from the 19th and 20th centuries up to the present day, testifying to the continuous artistic interest in the spiritual and in the human structure of knowledge and perception.

Paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations and videos by 120 artists are presented in this exhibition, including works by Joseph Beuys, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Chan, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, Caspar David Friedrich, Francisco de Goya, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst, Huang Yong Ping, Alexej von Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Martin Kippenberger, Paul Klee, Kasimir Malewitsch, Piet Mondrian, Edvard Munch, Bruce Nauman, Barnett Newman, Hermann Nitsch, Patti Smith and Paul Thek.

“Traces du Sacré” is organized by the Centre Pompidou, Paris, with Jean de Loisy, independent curator who also provided the concept, and Angela Lampe, curator of the exhibition and curator at the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou.

For further information, www.hausderkunst.de