BERLIN.- KÖNIG TELEGRAPHENAMT presents the group show GUTEN MORGEN, DU SCHÖNE. It is the inaugural exhibition for the additional space at the Forum an der Museumsinsel next to the Telegraphenamt at Ziegelstrasse 16-17. The show features works by Elvira Bach, Luciano Castelli, Rainer Fetting, Anne Jud, Helmut Middendorf, Salomé, and Bernd Zimmer. The exhibition evokes an era of vibrant beginnings: In the 1970s, West Berlin became a city of longing for an entire generation. While curfews were being reinstated in other cities, Berlin remained the city that never slept. "Guten Morgen, Du Schöne"—a book by Maxie Wander, published in 1977 by Der Morgen Publishing—became one of the most successful novels in the GDR. On the other side of the Wall, the same year saw the birth of the Galerie am Moritzplatz, a collective exhibition space where Anne Jud, Rainer Fetting, Helmut Middendorf, Salomé, and Bernd Zimmer were represented.
Salomé (b. 1954 in Karlsruhe) marked the debut of Galerie am Moritzplatz with a bold performance: posing in suspenders on a bed adorned with pink silk and roses. The performance, "Auf dem Rosenbett", placed his body and sexuality at the center of his art.
Rainer Fetting (b. 1949 in Wilhelmshaven) presented his "Mauerbilder" at the Galerie am Moritzplatz debut. His subject matter focused on one of the world’s most iconic landmarks: the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War and a solemn reminder of those who were imprisoned or lost their lives while attempting to escape. For Fetting, the Berlin Wall was not merely an abstract concept but part of daily life—the view from his window at Moritzplatz. The gray concrete wall became, for him, a canvas for exotic and expressive forms of painting.
Helmut Middendorf (b. 1954 in Dinklage), like Salomé, was a student of Professor K.H. Hödicke. He arrived in Berlin from the provinces of West Germany in 1971. Middendorf’s flat, almost perspective-less painting style reflects the genesis of his motifs: whether from photographs or his imagination, his inspirations stemmed from the nocturnal city, which, shrouded in darkness, revealed only its silhouette. In the frenzy of the night, everyone is equal.
Above the studio of Anne Jud (b. 1953 in Lucerne) and Bernd Zimmer (b. 1948 in Planegg) in Berlin-Kreuzberg worked painter Bernd Koberling, who introduced Zimmer to dispersion painting. This emulsion-based technique was cheaper than oil and, due to its fast-drying nature, encouraged rapid, gestural brushstrokes—a style that became as well influential in K.H. Hödicke’s class. Zimmer’s landscape paintings emerged as a dialectical counterpoint to the rising punk and subculture scenes. Just as provocative, Zimmer tested how far one could push the boundaries of painting. Like his colleagues, he drew his subjects from his immediate surroundings. The “harmless” landscapes and animal depictions evolved into provocations in Kreuzberg’s backyard galleries, amidst the Berlin subculture scene of the 1970s, which included the burgeoning gay rights movement, punk, and new wave.
While Fetting, Middendorf, Salomé, and Zimmer primarily distinguished themselves through their paintings, Anne Jud was particularly drawn to the performative act as an artistic expression. Born in Switzerland, she studied acting in Zurich and Vienna before relocating to Berlin in 1974. After a joint trip to Mexico and the USA with Bernd Zimmer, she began creating her first works. Anne Jud explored the use of U.S. one-dollar bills in her art. She constructed entire works with the currency, designed suits and knitted ensembles, and even created a runway. She covered high heels and furniture with one-dollar bills, and when the money ran out, she simply printed more in her studio.
Luciano Castelli (b. 1951 in Lucerne) arrived at Moritzplatz in 1978 as a visitor to Salomé’s exhibition "Frühling, Sommer, Herbst, Winter". In 1979, Salomé and Castelli collaborated on their first performance together as trapeze birds during a fashion show by Claudia Skoda at the Berlin Congress Hall. The striking image from this performance later became the cover of the debut album of their punk rock band "Geile Tiere". Much like their other artworks, their performances were charged with sexuality and elements of travesty, aiming to explore and reveal the unfamiliar within themselves. Ultimately, their work—both on stage and in the studio—became a form of performative expression.
Like her colleagues, Elvira Bach (b. 1951 in Neuenhain/Taunus) studied at the Hochschule der Künste. Her living she earned in the theater as a props assistant, prompter, and wardrobe assistant. Initially, she struggled with being a painter behind the scenes, and on the other hand the possibility of becoming the center of attention on stage. With her paintings "Immer ich", she ultimately merged both roles on the canvas, from 1978 until today.
Bach’s work centers around the woman, depicted in full-body, three-quarter, or half-portraits. High heels, lipstick, powder boxes, cigarettes, strawberries, long-stemmed red wine glasses, and other objects are elevated as symbols of femininity, becoming the artist’s trademark in her paintings. She creates a prototype of womanhood, which she reinterprets in multiple variations. "Immer ich". In bed, under palm trees, in the bathtub, at the bar. "Immer ich". It is the life of Elvira Bach, where the woman, in all her facets, takes center stage. And ultimately, it was not Fetting, nor Middendorf, nor Zimmer, but Elvira Bach who was selected by Dutch curator Rudi Fuchs in 1982 to participate in "documenta 7", where she presented her work alongside Salomé, the postmodern Italian Transavantgarde, as well as artists from the Mülheimer Freiheit. After a stint as an artist-in-residence in the Dominican Republic, Bach returned early to prepare for her contribution to the exhibition.
The exhibition is curated by art historian and author Franziska Leuthäußer. Until 2018, she worked at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, where her long-term research project, "Café Deutschland." "Im Gespräch mit der ersten Kunstszene der BRD" was published, an investigation into the West German art scene from the perspective of contemporary witnesses. In 2015, she co-curated the exhibition "Die 80er. Figurative Malerei in der BRD". Most recently, she published an autobiographical narrative by art dealer Franz Dahlems, titled "Am liebsten würde ich Marilyn Monroe sein", released in 2021 by Schirmer/Mosel.
