The Neue Nationalgalerie presents in its upper hall a solo show by Monica Bonvicini with new, site-specific architectural installations, sculptural objects, performative and sound works, as well as a selection of well-known pieces from her internationally renowned oeuvre. The show offers a completely new perception of the space, which can be experienced in the interplay of seeing, hearing, and direct physical interaction with some works.
Monica Bonvicini, „2 Tonnen Alte Nationalgalerie“, 1998, Bauschutt der Fassade der Alten Nationalgalerie Berlin; C-print, Courtesy the artist © Monica Bonvicini und VG-Bildkunst, Bonn /Foto: Stefan Altenburger
Bonvicini explores the hidden mechanisms of Western modernity, its sexual charges as well as the exaggerations and mythifications that accompany them. The gender relations and social orders that are firmly inscribed in the architecture and the museum are exposed, unmasked, and destabilized by the artist in an ironic and playful way. Bonvicini’s sculptures are to be understood here as invitations to enter new spaces of experience, starting from a critical approach to institutions.
Monica Bonvicini, “Don’t Miss a Sec”., 2004, Two-way mirror glass structure, stainless-steel toilet unit, concrete, aluminium, fluorescent lights, 250 x 226 x 185 cm, Courtesy the artist, © Monica Bonvicini and VG-Bildkunst, Bonn 2022 / Photo: Jannes Linders
The exhibition is made possible by the Freunde der Nationalgalerie with the kind support of the Leinemann-Stiftung für Bildung und Kunst.
A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
As early as 1998, with the sculpture 2 Tonnen Alte Nationalgalerie, Bonvicini dealt with the massive urban reconstruction process that was taking place in Berlin at the time. Many of the conversions served not only to repair and renew but also to engage with the political history of the growing metropolis. More than twenty years later, she deals with the iconic building of the Neue Nationalgalerie.
Monica Bonvicini, “Never Again”, 2005, Galvanized steel pipes, black leather, black leather men’s belts, galvanized chains, clampsApprox. 350 x 1600 x 1100 cmCourtesy the artist© Monica Bonvicini and VG-Bildkunst, Bonn / Photo: Rikke Luna
With her exhibition I do You, Bonvicini essentially alters Mies van der Rohe’s modernist architecture through radical architectural interventions. The interplay with performative actions and sculptural works results in a multi-layered narrative that challenges us to question outdated categories and to investigate further some overlooked aspects of the museum. Bonvicini makes the building and thereby the public space the negotiating level of the private: How do we deal with each other in space, what structures and power relations are inscribed in the floor, the walls, or the transparent glass façades? As is often the case in her interventions, the space of the Neue Nationalgalerie is fundamentally redefined; visual landscapes, soundscapes, reflections and refractions manifest in an ensemble of different noises. The surroundings transform into a multi-sensory dissonance, a disturbance that is both self-asserting and destabilizing.
Curated by Joachim Jäger and Irina Hiebert Grun
Monica Bonvicini, “Be Your Mirror”, 2020, Aluminium panels, PU foam396 x 950 x 2,8 cm [HxWxD], Courtesy the artist and Sammlung Wemhöner© Monica Bonvicini and VG-Bildkunst, Bonn / Photo: Anna Lott Donadel
Plan your visit
EXHIBITION VENUE
Neue Nationalgalerie
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Potsdamer Straße 50
10758 Berlin
RUN TIME
25 November 2022 – 30 April 2023
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
U-Bahn: U2 Potsdamer Platz
S-Bahn: S1, S2, S25 Potsdamer Platz
Bus: M29 Potsdamer Brücke, M41 Potsdamer Platz Bhf / Voßstraße, M48, M85 Kulturforum, M200 Philharmonie
The exhibition is wheelchair accessible.
OPENING HOURS
Mondays
closed
Tuesdays
10 – 6pm
Wednesdays
10 – 6pm
Thursdays
10 – 8pm
Fridays
10 – 6pm
Saturdays
10 – 6pm
Sundays
10 – 6pm
SPECIAL OPENING HOURS ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
German Unification Day (Sun 03.10.2021) and Christmas (Fri 24. – Sun 26.12.2021) 10 – 6pm
New Year’s Eve (Fri 31.12.2021): closed
New Year’s Day (Sa 01.01.2022): 12 – 6pm
Education and Outreach
Guided tours
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAM
Neue Nationalgalerie
Monica Bonvicini. I do You
November 25, 2022 – April 30, 2022
OFFERS FOR ADULTS
Bookable tours for groups
Mies meets Bonvicini
I do you! Locked, mirrored and (v)er(sc)hoed: What artistic interventions are possible in the modern temple of Mies architecture? Monica Bonvicini radically changes the spatial structure of the building, motivated by feminism. She creates new spaces, architectural elements, bodily experiences and invites the visitors to become part of the exhibition themselves. Visual and sound worlds, reflections and refractions form a heterogeneous ensemble. Find out more about the exhibited works and the artist’s architectural interventions.
Duration: 60 minutes
German: 90 € plus admission
Foreign language (English / French): 100 € plus admission.
Limited number of participants.
Bookable by phone +49 (0)30 266 42 42 or by e-mail to ser-vice@smb.museum.
Please book your tour at least 14 days in advance.
Public tours for individual visitors
Body and Space. Monica Bonvicini’s installation for the
New National Gallery
Sat / 2pm / 12/3, 12/10, 12/17/2022, 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, 4/22, 4/29/2023.
Macho architecture or temple of modernity? Monica Bonvicini explores the hidden mechanisms of Western “modernity” and its sexual charges. In doing so, she questions the power and violence relations of architectural spaces and opens up a radically feminist position. Learn more about the artist’s expansive, often provocative works.
Participation fee including admission: 15 €
Participation fee with valid admission ticket (annual pass, sponsoring association, ICOM, etc.) or entitlement to a discount: 10 €).
Limited number of participants.
Online booking required: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen
Public Tours for Individual Visitors
Body and Space. Monica Bonvicini’s installation for the
New National Gallery (in English)
Sun / 2 pm / Dec. 11, 2022, Jan. 8, Jan. 22, Feb. 12, Feb. 26, March 12, March 26, April 9, April 23, 2023.
Macho architecture vs. a temple of modernity? Monica Bonvicini explores the hidden mechanisms of Western “modernity” and its sexual charges. In doing so, she questions the power and violence relations of architectural spaces and opens up a radically feminist position. Hear more about the expansive, often provocative works.
Participation fee including admission: 15 €
Participation fee with valid admission ticket (annual pass, sponsoring association, ICOM etc.) or entitlement to discount: 10 €)
Limited number of participants.
Online booking required: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen
Visite guidate pubbliche per singoli visitatori
Corpo e spazio. Installazione di Monica Bonvicini per la
New National Gallery
Sun / 2pm / 9.12.2022, 15.1., 26.2., 19.3., 16.4.2023
Architettura machista vs. tempio della modernità? Monica Bonvicini es-plora i meccanismi celati della architettura moderna occidentale e la loro carica sessuale. In questo modo mette in discussione le relazioni di po-tere e violenza degli spazi architettonici e apre una prospettiva radi-calmente femminista. Per saperne di più sulle opere ampie e spesso provocatorie di Monica Bonvicini partecipate alla visita guidata.
Quota di partecipazione comprensiva di ingresso: 15 €
Quota di partecipazione con biglietto d’ingresso valido (tessera annuale, associazione sponsor, ICOM ecc.) o diritto a uno sconto: 10 €
Numero limitato di partecipanti
È richiesta la prenotazione online: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen
One to One
Thurs / 5 – 7 p.m. / Dec. 1, Jan. 5, Feb. 2, Mar. 2, Apr. 6, 2023
What does museum architecture have to do with gender relations and social orders? Art educators invite you to short dialogues in the exhibition “I do You” by Monica Bonvicini. Be on the lookout!
Participation free of charge, plus admission
Limited number of participants. Please book an online ticket for the time of the event.
Curatorial tours
From a curatorial perspective
Thurs / 5 p.m. / Dec. 15, 2022, Jan. 26, Feb. 23, Mar. 23, Apr. 27, 2023
Irina Hiebert-Grun and Joachim Jäger report from a curatorial perspective on the exhibition “I do You” by Monica Bonvicini in the upper hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie. They will discuss themes and backgrounds of the installation.
Participation fee including admission: 15 €, participation fee with valid admission ticket (annual pass, Förderverein, ICOM etc.): 10 €
Limited number of participants.
Online booking required: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen
Change of Perspective
Experts from various disciplines will open up new perspectives on the artworks and interventions in a tour of the exhibition.
Participation free of charge, plus admission.
Limited number of participants.
Online booking required at www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen. Remaining tickets at the box office. Please also book an admission ticket for the time of the event.
Change of Perspective – Safe spaces
Thu / 6 – 7:30 pm / 1/26/2023 with Jill Killjoy.
The Private is Political. How do we interact in public and private spaces? What are the realities of life that current housing policies lead to? In her artistic practice, Monica Bonvi-cini repeatedly explores power structures in spaces and addresses the connection between gender and architecture. The change of perspective invites us to discuss spatial claims in and outside the institution of the museum.
Jill Killjoy is a resident in a queer house project in Berlin Prenz-lauer Berg and deals with gentrification, queer spaces and class society.
Change of Perspective – Not yet Exploited
Thu / 6 – 7.30 pm / 13.4.2023 with Simone Kellerhoff
The exhibition “I do You” works with diverse media and spatially expansive installations of building materials, textiles, and objects. Often the works appeal to different senses and are reminiscent of fetishes. Culturally charged materials such as leather and steel have been alienated in their use and embody Monica Bonvicini’s political stance. Participants will discuss raw materials, art production and sustainability.
Simone Kellerhoff is the founder and managing director of the social enterprise “Material Mafia”, which considers residual materials as valuable resources and is committed to making them available for reuse in educational projects.
Change of Perspective – Yes Please, No Thanks
Thu / 18 – 19.30 / 27.4.2023 with René de Sans
Monica Bonvicini’s artistic language addresses dominance and discipline, power in interpersonal relationships and in gender relations. Together they consciously experience their own physicality in confrontation with the artworks and the bodies of the other visitors to the exhibition. In conversation, questions around desire and queer feminist self-empowerment are negotiated.
René de Sans is co-founder of “Karada House”, a queer collaborative art space in Berlin that explores the boundaries, intersections and politics of body, art and the multiple interactions between them.
INCLUSIVE OFFERINGS
Exhibition talk for adults with and without visual impairment
Tactile tour
Sat / 1 – 3 pm / 2/4, 4/1/2023
What structures and power relations are inscribed in the floor, the walls, or the transparent glass façade of Mies van der Rohes museum building? The exhibition “I do You” by Monica Bonvicini offers a completely new perception of space. Through the interplay of touch, hearing and direct physical interaction with some of the works, visitors activate the artworks and experience the architecture of the Neue Nationalgalerie museum building.
Participation fee including admission: 15 €
Participation fee with valid admission ticket (annual pass, Förderverein, ICOM, etc.) or entitlement to a discount: 10 €)
Limited number of participants.
Telephone registration required at 030 266 42 42 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 4 pm). Alternatively, online booking is recommended: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen.
Admission and participation are free of charge for registered accompanying persons.
Guided tour for deaf and hearing adults
Tandem tour in DGS
Sat / 4 pm / 2/25, 3/25/2023
Mirrors, drills and handcuffs: The Neue Nationalgalerie dedicates a solo exhibition to artist Monica Bonvicini in the upper hall. On view are new site-specific architectural installations, sculptural objects, performative works, and a selection of well-known works from her internationally renowned oeuvre. The works will be discussed and explored in German Sign Language. There will be a translation into spoken language.
Participation fee including admission: 15 €
Participation fee with valid admission ticket (annual pass, sponsoring association, ICOM etc.) or entitlement to a discount: 10 €)
Limited number of participants.
Online booking required: www.smb.museum/veranstaltungen
Admission and participation are free of charge for registered accompanying persons.
Information for schools and teachers
OFFERS FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
Admission is free of charge for pupils as part of a moderated event.
Exhibition talk for students
Power Structures: From Architecture to Headbanging
Upon entering the raw steel structure, the students experience the upper entrance hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie in a completely new way. They themselves become actors in the exhibition. Starting from Monica
Bonvicini’s radical feminist vandalism, the students examine the museum building for its power effects. They reflect on references to sexuality and fetish practices and ask from a critical perspective whether a space can be masculine or feminine.
Admission to the National Museums is free of charge for students and teachers. One accompanying person per 10 pupils is admitted free of charge.
From grade 7, sec. I + II
60 minutes / 30 €
Max. 15 participants.
Registration required.
If you have any uncertainties or questions regarding the visit, please contact us by phone or e-mail.
Trainings for teachers
Introduction: I do You – Monica Bonvicini
Thu / 3 – 5 pm / Dec 8, 13, 2022.
Monika Bonvicini’s solo exhibition, with its expansive installation and provocative artistic statements, invites us to question the role of architecture in the formation of power structures and gender relations in our society. The boundaries between public and private spaces merge. After a tour of the exhibition, the participants will discuss the links between the exhibition and teaching and present the bookable offers.
Participation free of charge.
Limited number of participants.
Online registration required.
Covid-19 protective measures
Covid-19 protection measures
You can find current information under: smb.museum/informationen-corona
Further Information
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH AT THE STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN
The Education, Outreach, and Visitor Services Department is the central educational institution of the National Museums in Berlin and, as such, is entrusted with the conception and implementation of offerings in all 15 collections. With a wide range of events, the National Museums in Berlin address different user groups: Children and families, young people and adults, day-care centers, schools, universities and other educational institutions, individual visitors and groups of visitors.
The entire education and outreach program of the National Museums in Berlin can be found on the website www.smb.museum.
INFORMATION AND BOOKING
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Education, Outreach, Visitor Services
Tel +49 (0) 30 266 42 42 (Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm)
service@smb.museum
www.smb.museum
The complete educational and outreach programme of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin can be found at www.smb.museum
INFORMATION AND BOOKING
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Education, outreach, and visitor services
Tel +49 (0) 30 266 42 42 42 (Mo-Fr, 9-16 Uhr)
service@smb.museum
www.smb.museum
You can find the complete education and outreach program under www.smb.museum
Neue Nationalgalerie
The Neue Nationalgalerie was the last work of the internationally famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. With the museum’s glass Upper Hall, he completed his longtime preoccupation with flowing, open space. The architect died shortly after the building was inaugurated. Thus, the New National Gallery with its steel roof and its reduced formal language is not only considered an icon of modernism, but at the same time the legacy of a visionary master builder of the 20th century.
Partners
The exhibition Monica Bonvicini. I Do You at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin is made possible by the Freunde der Nationalgalerie. With the kind support of the Leinemann Stiftung für Bildung und Kunst.
The exhibition is sponsored by Gaggenau Hausgeräte GmbH, who thus continue their commitment to the Neue Nationalgalerie.
