BERLIN, GERMANY.- Restorer Johannes Noack shows a damaged work of US-artist Gordon Matta-Clark at the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection in Berlin�s Hamburger Bahnhof museum. According to a spokesman of the police, a 35-year-old woman visiting the controversial exhibition damaged some art works in the evening of 22 September 2004. This is the first presentation to be drawn from this comprehensive collection, and remaining on view until January 23, 2005, is a selection of approximately 400 works from all artistic domains: painting, sculpture, photography and installations. Covering more than 13.000 sq. m., this exhibition will fill galleries in the Hamburger Bahnhof itself, as well as those in the shipping halls, or so-called Rieckhallen.

 

Located adjacent to the main museum building, the halls will be connected to it by a bridge. Meanwhile, this first exhibition is only a prelude of things to come. Over the coming seven years, the entire collection will be presented to the public successively in rotating selections.

 

Accompanying the exhibition will be a comprehensive ca. 500-page catalogue, specially designed to present all artists and works included in this initial showing. This ambitious publication project is being designed by cyan, the celebrated Berlin graphics firm, and will appear in two editions, both published by SMB-DuMont. A special collector�s edition features an elaborate layout and unusual materials and papers, which attempt to do justice to the varying approaches of the individual artists. A standard edition with the same design will be priced affordably for the average museum visitor.