Now on View

Under the title “Now on View. Works from the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection in the Mercedes-Benz Museum”, the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection has been showing important works from its 40-year history in changing exhibitions since spring 2024. From 13 November 2024 to 5 October 2025, a new presentation with around 30 fascinating paintings, sculptures, textile objects, installations and video from the 1980s to the present day will be on display: The works of celebrities such as Sylvie Fleury and Andy Warhol as well as of contemporary artists such as Kai Fischer, Claudia Wieser and Heba Y. Amin deal with issues such as the influence of iconic brands on society, the convergence of art and design, the validity of systems of order and measurement, and the development of abstract art.

In artistic dialogue: From Andy Warhol to Sung Tieu
The 1980s were an exciting time for the development of art and society, which continues to have an impact today. In various groups of themes, the new “Now on View” presentation juxtaposes a work of art from the 1980s with several works from the time since, in order to build bridges to the present day. In this way, the artists and their works enter into a special dialogue with each other.

For example, Andy Warhol (with the exhibited works from 1986) and his “dialogue partners” Sylvie Fleury, Tom Sachs, Ina Weber and Pietro Sanguineti ask how well-known brands or products influence our lives and consumer behaviour. The younger artists often refer to art history in their works, such as the famous “Brillo Boxes” by Andy Warhol. The young Stuttgart artist Kai Fischer, on the other hand, brings together consumer behaviour and the art history of the still life in his works reminiscent of “till receipts”. The artwork “After Caravaggio”, for example, is an enlarged shopping list of all the ingredients that can be recognised in one of the Italian Baroque painter’s famous still lifes. Fischer’s humorous treatment of art-historical icons also addresses serious current issues, such as the constant availability of goods in Western consumer societies.

Another thematic focus of the new exhibition – and at the same time an important focal point of the Mercedes-Benz Art Collection – is geometric abstraction and its development since the 1980s. Works by Imi Knoebel, Manfred Mohr, Nathalie Du Pasquier and the newly acquired tapestry by Claudia Wieser illustrate different sources of inspiration and approaches to the tradition of abstract art. Nathalie Du Pasquier, for example, looks at abstraction from two perspectives – design and the visual arts. In the early 1980s, she was a founding member of the famous Milanese design collective Memphis and designed textiles, carpets, furniture and objects. The artist continues her subtle play with unusual colour combinations and geometric shapes and bodies in her paintings, sculptures and installations.

The work “In memoriam Tschu Schi-ki” by Rune Mields from 1980 demonstrates the artistic examination of systems of order and measurement. It is a tribute to a scholar who has received little attention in historical literature: In his maths book published in China in 1303, Tschu Shi-ki referred to an unknown master from the 12th century. He was the discoverer of the triangle. To this day, most applications of the triangle are attributed to Blaise Pascal. The conceptual work “The Ruling” by Sung Tieu from 2024 also calls for a different view of history. The artist deals with “pre-colonial units of measurement” in French Indochina, today’s Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and their displacement by colonial structures.

Guided tours of “Now on View”
From 1 December 2024, tours of the “Now on View” exhibition will take place once a month. A family tour is available for adults, young people and children. After the tour, there will be the opportunity for children to get creative with painting or handicrafts.

More information on the tour, dates and registration can be found at https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/art-and-culture/museum/art-collection/.