Quadrennial Düsseldorf
The Quadriennale Düsseldorf was a four-year festival of fine arts in which the leading Düsseldorf art museums, exhibition houses, the art academy and numerous partner institutions took part.
concept
A characteristic of the Düsseldorf Quadriennale is a central theme to which all participating institutions refer in accordance with their programmatic focus with work shows, exhibitions and an extensive accompanying program. The first Quadriennale Düsseldorf took place in 2006 under the leitmotif The body in art . In 2010, the second Quadriennale followed with Art Present. The Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014 took place from April 5th to August 10th under the motto Beyond Tomorrow .
history
At the first Quadriennale in Düsseldorf in 2006, the focus was on The Body in Art . The importance of the physical for humans and the development that the relationship between the self and its physical shell has taken over the centuries was questioned. Work shows and installations at different locations in the city showed works by artists such as Bruce Nauman , Spencer Tunick , Francis Bacon and Caravaggio . During the Quadriennale, the Art Prize of the State Capital Düsseldorf , endowed with 55,000 euros, was awarded for the first time . Bruce Nauman was the winner.
In 2010, the second edition of the Düsseldorf Quadriennale followed: Art Present . The focus of the exhibitions and activities was the question of the influence of Düsseldorf artists on the international art scene. The audience embarked on a journey through time that began in the 1960s and has extended to the present day. The large exhibition on Joseph Beuys showed, among other things, works that have left their permanent place for the first time after the artist's death. In Benrath Palace , visitors experienced the work of the artist and Beuys friend James Lee Byars . The retrospective on Nam June Paik showed where the former professor of the Düsseldorf Art Academy located his artistic roots: Rhineland is my artistic home . As part of the Quadriennale, the Düsseldorf painter and sculptor Thomas Schütte was awarded the Art Prize of the State Capital Düsseldorf.
In 2014, the third Düsseldorf Quadrennial took place from April 5 to August 10. For the first time, a curator - Wolfgang Ullrich , Professor of Art Studies and Media Theory at the Karlsruhe University of Design - developed the central idea and the dramaturgy of the Quadriennale together with curators from Düsseldorf in order to establish closer links between the institutions involved . Under the leitmotif Beyond Tomorrow, the focus in 2014 was on ideas of the future in art, science and technology. Each exhibition at the Quadriennale was accompanied by terms that have a special relationship to the subject of the future and material. Like a network, they create content-related connections between the individual presentations. Concepts such as departure , utopia , earth or metamorphosis were, so to speak, thematic guard rails in order to approach future aspects from different perspectives.
Current
After the 2014 local elections, the city council decided with a majority of the SPD, Greens and FDP that there should not be a new edition of the Quadriennale. Thus the future of the Quadriennale GmbH is also uncertain.
organization
Quadriennale GmbH is responsible for the Düsseldorf Quadriennale. It was founded in December 2008. The state capital Düsseldorf is the sole shareholder . The head of the cultural department, Hans-Georg Lohe, is a member of the management. The first chairman of the supervisory board is currently Lord Mayor Thomas Geisel .
