Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg
Biography
Born in 1959 in Freiburg im Breisgau, he studied German Studies, English Studies and History in Tübingen, Berlin and Freiburg. After completing his doctorate in German Studies, he began working as a freelance writer and critic in the field of visual art in 1986. Since then, he has published numerous articles, among others, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Kunstforum, Kunstbulletin, Artist and Neue Bildende Kunst.
From 1990 to 2000 he served as Director of the Freiburg Art Association (Kunstverein Freiburg), followed by his directorship of the Hanover Art Association (Kunstverein Hannover) from 2001 to 2008. Alongside his curatorial and journalistic work, he was active in academic teaching between 1995 and 2002, holding teaching appointments in art theory and art history at the University of Freiburg, the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, the Free Academy of Fine Arts Basel, and the University of Hanover.
Since 2004, he has been an Honorary Professor at the Braunschweig University of Art (Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig).
In April 2008, he took up the position of Director (Intendant) of the Kunstmuseum Bonn, a role he held until November 2025.
Project Description
Art and War – Crisis, Collectivity and Symbolic Order
For the first time in Germany, an exhibition is to be developed that addresses how visual art engages with the theme of war. The project examines both the specific iconography of art and its capacity to develop collectively effective visual metaphors for the horrors of war (for example, Goya and Picasso), as well as the affirmative stance adopted by many artists towards war, which can be interpreted as a cathartic experience. Not least, art itself is explored as a belligerent terrain.
The project is conducted within the framework of the Émile Durkheim Research Unit: Crisis Analyses and investigates contemporary armed conflicts and social crises against the backdrop of current global developments.
Exhibitions
Bernd Minnich (1990), Christoph Rütimann (1991), Marianne Eigenheer (1992), Patrick Raynaud, Paul Armand Gette (1993), Daniel Buren, Urs Lüthi (1994), Tim Head, Axel Lieber, Erwind Wurm (1995), Christopher Muller, Guillaume Bijl, Alexander Roob (1996), Pia Fries, Fritz Balthaus, Richard Wentworth (1997), Thomas Demand, Matthew Mc Caslin, Jochen Lempert (1998), Tracey Moffat, Beat Zoderer, Simone Mangos (1999), Stephan Huber, Dan Peterman (2001), David Reed, Naoya Hatakeyama, Kara Walker, David Claerbout, Peter Pommerer (2002), Luc Tuymans, WalterNiedermayr, Mark Dion, Franziska & Lois Weinberger (2003), Leni Hoffmann, Mathilde ter Heijne, Ingrid Calame, Jörg Wagner, Peter Kogler (2004), Georg Herold, Gregory Crewdson, Antje Schiffers (2005), Jörg Sasse, Corinne Wasmuht, Marcel van Eeden (2006), John M Armleder (2006/7), Julie Mehretu (2007), Mark Manders (2007), Aernout Mik (2007/08), Nedko Solakov (2008), Julian Rosefeldt (2009), Erwin Wurm (2010), Katharina Grosse (2011), Albert Oehlen (2012), Marcel Odenbach (2013), Juan Uslé (2014), Frank Auerbach (2015), Thomas Huber (2016), Thomas Scheibitz (2018), Walter Swennen (2022) Günter Fruhtrunk (2023), Katharina Grosse (2024)
Unschärferelation: Fotografie als Dimension der Malerei
u.a: Andreas Gursky, Walter Niedermayr, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Abigail O`´Brien, Heidi Specker (1999)
Close up: Oberfläche und Nahsicht in der zeitgenössischen Kunst
u.a: Franz Ackermann, Olaf Breuning, Marie-José Burki, Rineke Dijkstra, Peter Doig, Abigail Lane, Ugo Rondinone, Thomas Ruff, Adrian Schiess, Alexander Timtschenko. (2000/2001)
Archisculptures: Über die Beziehung zwischen Architektur, Skulptur und Modell
u.a: Rita McBride, Manfred Pernice, Alexandra Ranner, Daniel Roth, Johannes Spehr. (2001)
On Stage: Theatralisierung und Bühnenhaftigkeit in der zeitgenössischen Kunst
u.a: Christoph Büchel, Janet Cardiff/Georges Bures Miller, Björn Dahlem, Rodney Graham, Hubbard/Birchler, Ross Sinclair. (2002)
Die Sehnsucht des Kartografen:
u.a: Chantal Akermann, Atlas Group, Arnold Dreyblatt , Alfredo Jaar, Christoph Keller, Hiroyuki Masuyama, Michael Müller, Peter Piller, Heike Weber. (2003/2004)
Tauchfahrten – Zeichnung als Reportage
u.a: Peter Blegvad, Bernard Buffet, Alberto Giacometti, He Youzhi, Ben Katchor, Stephan Mörsch, Alexander Roob, Joe Sacco, Alfred Schmidt, Jim Shaw, Andreas Siekmann, Robert Weaver, Stephen Wiltshire, Amelie von Wulffen, Florian Zeyfang (2004/2005)
Nightsites – Zur Struktur des Unheimlichen in der Gegenwartskunst:
Eija Liisa Ahtila, Jennifer & Kevin Mc Coy, Hans Op de Beeck, Hans Schabus, Stephanie Smith & Edward Stewart (2005/2006)
Made in Germany – Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Deutschland. (mit Veit Görner und Ulrich Krempel)
(u.a: Oliver van den Berg, Michael Beutler, Candice Breitz, Nathalie Djurberg, Jeanne Faust, Ceal Floyer, Tue Greenfort, Beate Gütschow, Annette Kelm, Alexander Laner, Jonathan Monk, Peter Piller, Julius Popp, Julian Rosefeldt, Sean Snyder, Simon Starling, Ralf Ziervogel, Thomas Zipp) (2007)
Der Westen leuchtet – Zur Kunst des Rheinlandes (2010)
u.a: Thomas Arnolds, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Anna und Bernhard Blume, Tony Cragg, Simon Denny, Isa Genzken, Andreas Gursky, David Hahlbrock, georg herold, Benjamin Houlihan, Christian Keinstar, Jürgen Klauke, Imi Knoebel, Gereon Krebber,, Marcel odenbach, Albert Oehlen, Michail Pirgelis, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Ulrich Rückriem, Thomas Schütte, Katharina Sieverding, Rosemarie Trockel. Timm Ulrichs
Through the Looking Brain – Konzeptuelle Fotografie seit den 70er Jahren (mit Stefan Gronert) (2011)
u.a; Doug Aitken, John Baldessari, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Günther Förg, Dan Graham, Andreas Gursky, Roni Horn, Martin Kippenberger, Imi Knoebel, Louise Lawler, Ken Lum, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gabriel Orozco, Sigmar Polke, Richard Prince, Thomas Ruff, Edward Rusha, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Struth, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jeff Wall, Richard Wentworth.
HEIMsuchung – Unsichere Räume in der Kunst der Gegenwart (mit Volker Adolphs) (2013)
u.a: Horst Ademeit, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, John Bock, Gregory Crewdson, Jonas Dahlberg, Thomas Demand, Christian Haake, Stephan Huber, Stephan Mörsch, Alexandra Ranner, Werner Reiterer, Monika Sosnowska, Erwin Wurm.
TeleGen – Kunst und Fernsehen (mit Dieter Daniels) (2015)
u.a: Tauba Auerbach, Christiane Baumgartner, Joe Biel, Angela Bulloch, John Cage, Mel Chin, Bruce Conner, Simon Denny, Harun Farocki, Michel Francois, Melanie Gilligan, Dennis Hopper, Stefan Hurtig, Christian Jankowski, M + M, Fabio Mauri, Björn Melhus, Man June Paik, Tobias Rehberger, Christoph Schlingensief, Paul Thek, Wolf Vostell, Andy Warhol, Joseph Zehrer
EchtZEIT – Die Kunst der Langsamkeit (2016) (mit Volker Adolphs)
u.a: Francis Alys, David Claerbout, Peter Dreher, Martin Honert, Sofia Hulten, On Kawara, Alicja Kwade, Mark Manders, Christian Marclay, Kris Martin, Roman Opalka, Roman Signer, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ignacio Uriarte, Marijke van Warmerdam, Michael Wesely, Remy Zaugg)
Der Flaneur – Vom Impressionismus bis zur Gegenwart (2018) (mit Volker Adolphs)
u.a: Franz Ackermann, Francis Alys, Jean Beraud, Lovis Corinth, Max Ernst, Lyonel Feininger, Lee Friedlander, Vincent van Gogh, George Grosz, Candida Höfer, Sofia Hulten, Kimsooja, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Liebermann, August Macke, Adolph von Menzel, Camille Pissaro, Sigmar Polke, Franz Radziwill, Alexander Roob, August Sander, Rudolf Schlichter, Beat Streuli, Thomas Struth, Umbo, Jeff Wall, Gary Winogrand
From Dawn till Dusk: Der Schatten in der Kunst der Gegenwart (2025)
u.a: Christian Boltanski, David Claerbout, Olafur Eliasson, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Janice Guy, Jenna Gribbon,William Kentridge, Farideh Lashai, Edvard Munch, Sophia Pompery, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, Javier Tellez, Kara Walker.