Nicole Eisenman and the Modernists. Köpfe, Küsse, Kämpfe: Cat. Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Aargauer Kunsthaus/Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles/Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Nicole Eisenman, born 1965 in France, lives in New York, and her work is captivating because of its fascination with the human condition, questions about interpersonal interaction, and the precise observation of processes of alienation in civilisation. In her drawings, paintings, and sculptures, the artist combines elements from pop cultural contexts (political satire, comics) with traditional art historical references to form a new unity. Köpfe, Küsse, Kämpfe (Heads, Kisses, Struggles) brings together works from all of Eisenman’s creative periods. Against the backdrop of her artistic practice, in which various stylistic and compositional elements of historical painting become visible alongside pop-cultural influences, the show and the book are combined with works of classical modernism from the collections of the cooperating museums. Through these selectively introduced historical works, the exhibition and the book, together with Eisenman’s oeuvre, open up a resonance space spanning a century in which social upheavals are presented in their urgency, but also with hope and confidence.