Ingraining and Unfolding

Rolf Nesch attends the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. After spending time studying with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Frauenkirch near Davos, he begins experimenting with printmaking. Before his emigration in 1933, he develops a particular metal printing technique, using soldered metal pieces affixed to the plate. In Norway, he expands this practice further, ultimately resulting in three-dimensional material images. His preoccupation with the country and its culture, his fascination with Nordic landscapes and stories, but also his experiences of exile and adapting to new living conditions characterize Nesch’s work. From 1960 to the mid-1980s, the Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart acquires almost 90 works by the artist. Works from the collection of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and loans from national and international lenders offer an insight into his transmedial, cross-cultural oeuvre. Rolf Nesch is today considered one of Norway’s most important artists.

The Sudanese-born artist and LGBTQIA+ activist Ahmed Umar flees to Norway in 2008 due to political persecution. There, he studies printmaking as well as medium- and material-based art at the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo until 2016. His artistic practice is characterized by a continuous engagement with and exploration of new materials, as well as the transformation of found objects. At the same time, his work reflects the inner conflict of an individual caught between traditional gender roles, religious devotion, and the pursuit of self-determination. Umar openly identifies as queer and sees himself as a political artist. With this exhibition, the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is presenting Ahmed Umar’s work in Germany for the first time.