February 14 - May 26, 2019
Kiki Smith
Touch. Prints by Kiki Smith
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, Pinakothek der Moderne
With the exhibition TOUCH. Prints by Kiki Smith, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München is honoring the internationally acclaimed artist Kiki Smith of New York for her extraordinarily generous donation: Kiki Smith has donated her oeuvre of published prints—single sheets, series, and artist’s books—to the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. If the series and books are counted as single prints, this amounts to the considerable number of 800 prints.
Known internationally as one of the most renowned museums for works on paper, the Graphische Sammlung considers itself fortunate for this demonstration of faith, as it now has the largest holdings of prints by Kiki Smith in the world. Moreover, the artist’s generosity extends into the future as well, since she intends to donate a copy of every new edition to Munich.
In the exhibition rooms of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München at the Pinakothek der Moderne, more than 160 works selected from this exceptional donation offer a fascinating look into the artist’s entire oeuvre of prints from 1985 to the present. In the exhibition room “Temporary 1,” under the title Life and Work, masterpieces from four decades are shown, highlighting how the life and work of the artist are closely intertwined. In the adjoining rooms of the Graphische Sammlung, Kiki Smith’s prints have been grouped according to thematic aspects: visitors are initially met with motifs from The World between Life and Death, while the following rooms present the themes The World of the Human Body and Inside the White Cube.