The Haus am Wehrsteg and the Printhorn Collection have invited comic artists to artistically comment on works and artists of the Prinzhorn Collection. The resulting works will be printed on tarpaulin in a large format of 6.5 x 4.5 meters and exhibited on a monthly basis from January to June 2022 on the tower of the Künstlerhaus Haus am Wehrsteg and thus in Heidelberg's public space. The participating artists (Anke Feuchtenberger, Anna Haifisch, Wolfgang Klee, Lucie Langston, Mawil, and Henning Wagenbreth) represent current events in the field of comics and graphic novels in Germany.

The Concept

As the most important collection of artistic works by psychiatric patients, with a focus on drawings, the Prinzhorn Collection offers a wide field of results of diverse creativity. Communicating them to a broad audience is a challenge due to the small size of their works and their fragility. Comics, with their narrative tendency, accommodate the narrative character of many works in the collection. The topos of the outside is also an important motif in the collection via the experience of "limits of the ego" and "custody" and can additionally find its way into the artistic debate.

The artists

Six artists have each created a comic page or a picture on a theme of their own choice.

The first is Henning Wagenbreth, a long-time professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He deals with inventory number 1 and case 1 of the collection - Gustav Sievers "Bischoffstanz" - and reinterprets it in a richly colored way. In February, Anna Haifisch (Leipzig), winner of the Max-und-Moritz-Prize as best German comic artist of 2020, follows, working on "Bitte um ein Stück Kuchen!" by patient artist Helene Maisch. Finally, in March, Lucie Langston (Mainz) will show an examination of Josef Grebing's life, which ended as part of the Nazi "euthanasia" program, based on a letter he wrote. Langston's work was recently published in the New York Times. In April, former stage designer and cartoonist Wolfgang Klee (Frankfurt) follows with an examination of Carl Genzel. Comic book artist Mawil (Berlin) is another invitee in May. Anke Feuchtenberger (Hamburg), a university professor and winner of the Max-und-Moritz-Preis 20XX as best German comic artist, will take part in June.

Mediation

The project is accompanied by a magazine and a podcast series in which the artists and curators have their say.

HERE you can listen to the podcast.

Funding

Außenseiten is supported by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, by a donation and the city of Heidelberg.

https://hausamwehrsteg.info/

Images: Mawil, "The Fool on the Hill," 2022 © Mawil

Alois Dallmayr, "Chef und Führerstern Gott hl. Geist.", undated, inv. no. 2029m © Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg University Hospital.

Contributions January - June

The models from the Prinzhorn Collection