In the pieces on level 1 and on the stairway, linear elements take on the function of defining the image space, opening or closing it. The wall installation by Anna Ingerfurth is based upon a linear design that is filled with coloured, diamond-shaped panels and creates the impression of a surface standing diagonally in the space. Silhouettes of human figures give the abstract structure the character of a surreal area of action. The concept, which is executed specifically for the site, is based upon small-scale works that can be seen on the second storey of the stairway.

Lines, bands and areas characterise the paintings of Enrico Bach as artistic elements. The painting Ohne Titel (Untitled) executed in green and grey tones leads the eye into the depth of the picture with contradictory perspectives. By contrast, in the works from the Randgruppe (Fringe Group) series, black or silver coloured areas with linear structure finish the image foreground. Only in the coloured design of the edges or in very narrow gaps, which act like observation slits, do the pieces open the view to deeper layers.

The works of Markus Oehlen lead to a literally fundamental aspect of the exhibition. Even in his pieces from the 1980s, lines of almost material quality are integrated into the pictorial structures and surfaces. The graphical element is used by the artist here to expand the painting. In the newer pieces of the exhibition from the last decade, sculptural figurative motifs and linear structures are condensed into a weave of artistic layers that is visually almost impossible to resolve.

The option of looking at the shimmering and flickering in the pictures by Markus Oehlen either from a distance or close up is highlighted in the installation by Christl Mudrak. After entering the space she has designed, its effect is experienced with complete lack of distance. Black, spiral lines drawn over white surfaces and objects highlight the spatial orientation and have a direct impact on the physical and psychological experience.

The linocuts of Georges Wenger contain scenic references. With fine boughs covered in snow, they provide glimpses of wintery woodlands. However, at the same time, the mesh of black and white linework and areas distinguishes the images from the scenic.

The works by Katharina Hinsberg are characterised by fine lines, which the artist exposes or removes by paper cutting. She generally begins her work with a linear drawing and processes this subsequently with a scalpel. Meticulously, she guides the blade along the contours of the lines and extracts from the paper the lines themselves or the spaces between. By transferring into spatial constellations the artistic elements that are bound to the surface, she highlights the most elementary aspect of the drawing.

On levels 2 and 3, pieces by Jorinde Voigt are also presented, which are created in work processes that are both reproduced and pioneering. She translates her perception, experience and thinking into artistic structures of pictorial elements, reflective materials, lettering and graphical symbols that are reminiscent of dance notation or musical scores.

The works presented in the first section of the exhibition defy the idea of stylistic coherence. Right at the start of the exhibition, two works by Chris Succo reflect different results of the artist’s handling of the materials and processes he has selected. The paintings by Franziska Holstein on the first floor of KUNSTWERK reflect her development in the area of tension of objective-figurative and constructive-abstract work. Wall installations with thread drawings, small-format ink works and works in larger formats mark divergent key points in the appearance of the graphical exploration space of Carolin Jörg.

As an actual contradiction and in defiance of the political framework of artistic creation, a series of works on the second floor represents items of state non-compliant art in the GDR and the USSR. In rejecting the ideological and aesthetic guidelines set by party and state, artists in both countries were excluded from the official channels of art promotion and art dealing. Examples of nonconformist art in the GDR are in the exhibition of paintings by Michael Morgner, Hermann Glöckner and Max Uhlig, which are presented in a series with prints by Gerhard Altenbourg, Carlfriedrich Claus, Eberhard Göschel, Thomas Ranft, Dagmar Ranft-Schinke and Claus Weidensdorfer. On the wall opposite, pieces by major representatives of unofficial art in the USSR can be seen. Here, the works of Ivan Chuikov and Dimitrij Prigov refer to “Moscow Conceptualism”. Leonid Sokov and Alexander Kosolapov are considered to hold important positions in “Soc-Art”.

On the top floor, young artist Manuel Knapp, who lives in Mühlacker, opens the third chapter of the exhibition Spannungsfelder – mit Fäden gespannt (Areas of Tension – Tensioned with Threads) with his installation Spacebox No. 1. With black threads he produces a space body that defies the solder of real space and places the viewer’s perception in an area of tension between spatiality and perceived spatiality. Where the apparently contradictory already shifts to the relationship of objective reality and subjective perception with Manuel Knapp, the works by artist Chiharu Shiota, who comes from Japan and lives in Berlin, and the photographs of Jyrki Paratainen from Finland lead into an inner world in which conflicting forces act in an existential and emotional way. Restriction, commitment and dependence are the big human topics echoed by these works.

Different aspects of Ankommen (Arrival) are presented to you on four stories in KUNSTWERK. On the ground floor and 1st level of KUNSTWERK, we give you the opportunity to arrive in the exhibition and in the topic for yourself. Photographs by Ülkü Süngün tell of coming to terms with one’s own origin and identity, which is always carried regardless of the point of departure. Works by Miwa Ogasawara, Karin Kneffel and Ute Lindner tackle window motifs in different ways, so even the viewer arrives, pauses and looks forward. Videos by Marco Schuler show that arrival itself can be a huge endeavour and challenge.

In the large room on the 2nd level, the theme of arrival unfolds into different spatial and temporal dimensions. In dealing with National Socialism and the period of the Third Reich, the works by Gottfried Helnwein, Katrin Ströbel and Eva Leitolf set historic and current areas of tension. A series of photographs by Juliane Eirich describes a very personal artistic approach to the culture of South Korea. The pictorial world of New Zealand writer and visual artist John Pule comes from a trip to his home country, his own past and the roots of his own identity. Likewise, the pieces by Marco Schuler originate from personal reflection.

On the 3rd level, pictorial spaces and landscapes spread out, which allow us to be carried off into inner worlds of imagination. Emotively connected by the figure of the naked person, the digitally edited photographs by Chinese artist Chi Peng take the viewer to real-unreal (city) landscapes. On a small scale yet in a monumental way, the drawings of Beate Terfloth trace the landscape of the island of Pantelleria to the South of Italy. The works of American artist Max Cole maintain a meditative character, with calm and at the same time rhythmically placed, strong horizontal shades of black, white and grey – both in the production and in the perception. Pictorial spaces with cloud writing, figures and landscape elements create own thought spaces in the pictures of Brigitte Waldach.