April 29 - June 17, 2023

As part of Gallery Weekend 2023, we open our second solo exhibition of artist Achim Duchow (1948-1993). The exhibition Holy Shit – I Hear Voices was conceptualized on the occasion of the new publication of his catalog of works and comprises 18 large-scale paintings on canvas and paper, created between 1980 and 1992.

Achim Duchow was born in 1948 in Ottendorf and studied in the 70s at the school for Fine Arts Hamburg with Sigmar Polke, KP Brehmer and Ulrich Rückriem. He was a formative protagonist of the art scene in Düsseldorf, i.a. in the early 70s at Polke’s Gaspelshof in Willich and later in the 1982 by him founded “Medien Mafia” [media mafia] – a loose association of artists who jointly organized exhibitions, catalogs, editions, music and events. Working in collectives was characteristic of Duchow’s work; the questioning of traditional conceptions of authorship also found expression in his consistent refusal of an individual style, as well as in the quotation and adoption of styles form iconic artists and elements of popular culture.

Due to his close reference to contemporary history, his multimediality and novel integration of the then new medial possibilities, Duchow’s work today seems like a reflection of social tensions of the former West Germany and at the same time a living expression of the pop and punk culture of his time.