I LIKE AMERICA

The exhibition I LIKE AMERICA, with works from the collection of Christiane Schaufler-Münch and Peter Schaufler, brings together over a hundred works of art by forty American artists. Most live and work in New York, a few are based on the West Coast of the United States, others in various countries of the Americas. The presentation includes works from the period between 1960 and 2014 with an emphasis on the 1990s and 2000s. Featuring more than 120 works by 40 prominent artists, the show brings together protagonists of American art like Dennis Hopper, Frank Stella, Robert Longo, Dan Flavin or Julian Schnabel. Larger complexes of works by Alex Katz, Peter Halley, Donald Baechler or Jonathan Seliger are also on display.

The title I LIKE AMERICA was inspired by the eponymous action “I like America and America likes Me”, which Joseph Beuys carried out in the René Block Gallery in New York in May 1974 and which can be seen here as a documentary film. Thus, Beuys sneaks into the American cosmos as the only German artist. His ambivalent position towards the United States should be considered an introductory commentary on the exhibition.
The exhibition traces back conceptual movements in paiting, sculpture, graphic arts and photography since the 1960s with a focus on Abstract Expressionism, Pop-Art, Minimal Art, and Concept Art.

This show is possible thanks to the rich collection of the Schauflers. On numerous journeys overseas, Peter Schaufler (†) developed a particular interest in the activities of the artists there. Hence the exhibition’s focuses include not just the pioneers of Minimal and Conceptual Art but also of very recent works by artists such as Tom Sachs, Ruth Root, and Vincent Szarek that illustrate the diversity of current trends in American art.