PAUL McCARTHY

For the ninth instalment of the exhibition series miteinander gegenüber, Kunsthalle Bielefeld will present a photograph from Paul McCarthy’s ‘PROPO’ series, 1994, alongside Christa Dichgans’ painting Spielzeugstilleben (New York), 1969. Each installment of miteinander gegenüber focuses on a pairing of works selected from the collection of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and loans from other institutions, allowing new and surprising perspectives. 

McCarthy's photograph presents a black doll with severed legs, evoking racialised attributions and dealing with questions of power, oppression, and racism. Dichgans’ painting shows a chaotic accumulation of used toys. Both works can be seen as a mirror of society, in turn raising new questions: What do children play with? What values are conveyed through toys? What do they say about our society?

Kunsthalle Bielefeld