Trunk Road and Branch Roads at the Long Museum, Shanghai, is the first institutional exhibition of the late German artist Günther Förg (1952–2013) in Asia and the most comprehensive presentation to date solely dedicated to his painting. The exhibition covers four decades and includes 100 major works, monumental paintings and delicate miniatures alike as well as rarely shown series. In eight continuous chapters, the compelling story of a painter’s life unfolds, who pushed himself to the brink of discord – only to preserve art in a precarious state of balance. Förg’s artistic pursuit made him both a cautious preserver and at the same time a sagacious innovator. Opposites, he believed, necessitate and complement each other. His painting constitutes a permanent balancing act. It is a painting of opposites acted out, among which eventually an equilibrium sets in. These opposites sparked his imagination throughout his life and still inspire us today. Moving confidently between times and epochs, between laconic minimalism and expressive abundance, Günther Förg paved his own unique path into art history.

Long Museum