Schrittwechsel
Curated by Christophe Tannert
Nov 2–Dec 2, 1990

Exhibition curated by Christophe Tannert, East German art critic and historian. This group exhibition features mixed media works by members of the GDR’s art underground, produced through the 1980s. Although the artwork of this younger generation of artists does not necessarily make overt political statements, they communicated their opposition to the system by refusing to join the official (state-sanctioned) artists’ unions. As a result, they received no income, no identification number, and no work. In response to this precarious position, artists worked collaboratively, producing a tightly-knit sub-culture that created increasingly provocative work. The exhibit supports Tannert’s thesis that today a true alternative, underground culture is more likely to develop in the East, “muscled and regularly renewed by guerilla warfare with the Establishment.”