To mark the tenth anniversary of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media the exhibition “Zeitblick” (Time Perspective) is presenting a selection of 50 of the almost 400 works purchased in the last ten years for the Federal Republic of Germany’s Contemporary Art Collection. With only one exception the works shown here have never been exhibited in any of the previous exhibitions of this collection.

Like the collection as a whole, the acquisitions of the last ten years reflect the diversity of art created in the Federal Republic of Germany without, however, putting a focus on major groups of work by an individual artist or depicting a self-contained aspect of the history of art. “Time Perspective” is an opportunity to see a selection of the works of both artists with an international reputation as well as artists who are up and coming, making the exhibition testimony to the extremely flourishing last two decades of art in Germany generally and Berlin in particular: Many international artists live and work in Germany and made a conscious move to Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Ten exhibition areas depict ART ON ART, the LOGIC OF THE ABSURD, PATTERNS OF LIFE, ROLEPLAY, IMAGES OF GERMANY, DESIGN AS UTOPIA, the relationship between INSIDE AND OUTSIDE, the experience of SPACE IN SPACE, BODIES OF COLOUR and the structuring of our perception by the AESTHETIC OF THE FLEETING. These themes are not only presented in depth but also in the variety of media available to contemporary art: photography, painting and sculpture are represented as are film, video and drawing.