What is art? Where does it begin, where does it end? Who decides what art is? What makes an artist? The question of what constitutes art, its origins, boundaries and the definition of an artist are central to the practice of theDüsseldorf artist Hans-Peter Feldmann (1941–2023). In the autumn of 2025, a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to Feldmann’s work will take place at the Kunstpalast, exploring these fundamental inquiries.
The presentation of around 120 works will highlight the breadth of Feldmann’s oeuvre: from his early photographs, taken in the 1970s, his sculptures with everyday objects and his large-scale installations to more recent works, which will be shown in Düsseldorf for the first time. It is the first exhibition after Feldmann’s death in May 2023 and the last show, which he was actively involved in.
Many of the themes that were to become central for Feldmann already appear in his early work and recur again and again: everyday life, social clichés, voyeurism, private and public spheres, the formation of taste, humour and satire, dreams and projections. From the outset, Feldmann consistently pursued strategies of artistic appropriation, alienation and recontex-tualisation – what happens to a “beautiful” motif in front of the camera lense, how does an art historical quotation charge a sculpture, what “aura” does a banal object when placed on a white museum pedestal? Familiar things are seen differently and are being constantly rediscovered.
The Düsseldorf artist famously did not date or sign his art nor did he limit his editions. Questioning institutional and market logic, Feldmann strived to make art accessible to all, employing unconventional, often humorous formats to engage a broad audience. The exhibition at the Kunstpalast takes this playful approach as the basis for an exploration of his 60 years of work and will illustrate the topicality and relevance of Hans-Peter Feldmann’s themes today.
