On July 12th, KÖNIG GALERIE officially opened the Neubau—the four-story, 17,000-square-foot addition to the gallery space at Bergson Kunstkraftwerk, an abandoned power plant–turned–art center in Munich. The space debuted with a massive exhibition, “Metaphor to Metamorphosis,” devoted to the 100-year anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death.
KÖNIG GALERIE first moved into the space earlier this year, opening König Bergson in the site’s silo and 25-meter-high atrium on May 7th with a solo exhibition from Monira Al Qadiri. The power plant had not been operated since the 1980s. Today, Bergson Kunstkraftwerk hosts König Bergson among bars, a concert hall, and a beer garden.
The gallery is also currently presenting Jeppe Hein’s solo exhibition “Every Moment is a New Moment” in the gallery’s previously existing spaces. Hein’s exhibition includes several sculptures that incorporate mirrored surfaces,along with colorful works on paper. König Bergson will continue to present multiple exhibitions simultaneously, upholding the gallery’s goal “to enrich Munich’s cultural landscape and revitalize the local art market,” according to founder Johann König. In addition to the gallery spaces in the Neubau, the silo, and the atrium, the gallery has also opened a bookstore in the space.
“Metaphor to Metamorphosis” features work by nearly 100 artists building on themes of identity and transformation across all four floors of the new building. The first floor, for example, features portraits by Xenia Hausner and Alex Gardner. Elsewhere, works by artists such as Karl Horst Hödicke and Anselm Kiefer focus on historical trauma. On the third floor, younger artists like Agnes Questionmark and Anna Uddenberg address gender and the body, while the fourth floor centers around metamorphosis more directly, featuring work by Isa Genzken, among others.
