HAMBURG.- The Congress Center Hamburg presents a unique exhibition under the title “Jörg Immendorff – his graphic life’s work and sculptures” on 2300 square metres of exhibition space, with a total of 650 exhibits from all the creative periods of this artist, who died last year. The 650 works include some 340 drawings, 30 sculptures, 30 photos and 250 stamps, including suites, series and cycles in Immendorff’s best known motifs such as Café Deutschland and The Rake’s Progress.

One of the highlights of the Hamburg exhibition is the presentation of the two bronze sculptures Tropfenmann and Wächter created in 1989, which are on public display for the first time. They are the tallest sculptures in the exhibition, at 2 metres 80. The Wächter, weighing 380 kg, comes from a small edition of only six. The Tropfenmann weighs 360 kg and is the last officially recognised sculpture by Immendorff. It was made from a wooden model from the 80s. Both of them are artist’s copies and loans by private collectors.

The spacious rooms of the CCH-Congress Center Hamburg permit an exhibition layout which precisely meets Immendorff’s quality standards – in terms of individual route through the exhibition, lighting, and hanging of the works. “Immendorff liked the idea of creating a ‘temporary gallery’, in
other words designing a space for the art, and not fitting the art into the restrictions of an existing gallery,” explains Dirk Geuer, Curator of the exhibition, who worked with Immendorff for eighteen years.

The CCH has a great tradition of fine art. Shortly after its opening in 1973, the CCH put on a presentation of young Hamburg artists. At the same time, the foundation stone was laid for its own art collection, which is not well known at present, but comprises more than one hundred works of internationally renowned contemporary artists. They include such famous names as Rosemarie Trockel, Albert Oehlen, Cindy Sherman, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik and Jörg
Immendorff.

“We are delighted to show you some of this collection alongside the major Immendorff works. We see this exhibition as an enrichment of Hamburg’s art summer, and wish all our visitors enjoyment and inspiration,” says Bernd Aufderheide, Chairman of the Management Board of HMC (Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH).

The Immendorff exhibition will no longer be on display in Europe in the coming years, as it then goes to South America. It will be shown in Israel in 2012.