ERINNA KÖNIG

October 28, 2023 – February 25, 2024

The Von der Heydt Museum presents a comprehensive exhibition of Erinna König's work—the first retrospective since the Düsseldorf artist's untimely death in October 2021.

König worked on everyday objects through sculptural and painterly interventions. The found objects and materials are starting points for new perspectives that unfold sensitively in her art. These objects were chosen with precision and do not stand alone, but serve as part of a whole. Through her manipulation and combinations, the artist transformed them into sculptures, object paintings, or installations. She worked associatively, without imposing any interpretations. König did not see the obvious, the usefulness, in the everyday objects she found. Thus, discarded cinema seat backs become masks, a tire becomes a gold-framed flower, and a Palestinian scarf becomes a painting surface.

Erinna König, born in Warstein in 1947, studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Dieter Roth and Joseph Beuys and remained in Düsseldorf after completing her studies, where she ran her studio and consolidated her position in the art scene of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the 1960s and 1970s, during König's time as a student, the question of whether to work abstractly or figuratively was hotly debated at the academies. Determined to escape this dichotomous thinking, she went her own way and developed a complex artistic strategy: she explored both forms and materials for their own sake, but without neglecting motifs and content.

The retrospective at the Von der Heydt Museum presents a representative selection from Erinna König's complete works: a total of around 50 pieces from the period between 1969 and 2020 are on display. Behind this multifaceted oeuvre lies a fascinating artistic personality who reveals herself to be politically aware and socially critical in a manner that is as engaging as it is humorous.