MUNICHfound reports on the city's most interesting shows.

"Andy Hope 1930"
Sammlung Goetz
November 23-April 1

Comic strips, science fiction movies and Christian iconography merge with the artistic styles of Paul Klee or Wassily Kandinsky in the creations of Andreas Hofer. Jeopardizing common contexts, Hofer's installations, drawings, sculptures and collages aim at establishing "labyrinthian infinity." For the Sammlung Goetz, Hofer, who often signs his works with "Andy Hope 1930," has compiled his most important pieces since his early beginnings in 1995. Back then Hofer studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, already attaining the attention of the international art scene.

Sammlung Goetz is the private museum of collector Ingvild Goetz. Thus, visitors are required to register for all attendances: (089) 95 93 96 90. For more information, visit sammlung-goetz.de.

"Gems of the Middle Ages"
State Mineral Collection
December 9-April 11

In medieval Europe countless myths, legends and fairy tales entwined themselves around stones and gems. Also, precious stones mentioned in the Old Testament and the New Testament played an important role in the religious practice of the Middle Ages. Currently, the exhibition "Edelsteine des Mittelalters" (Gems of the Middle Ages) presents the most significant stones of medieval times and examines their symbolic values. For more information, visit Museum Reich der Kristalle.

"Golden Times"
Haus der Kunst
January 15-April 11

Each day events occur in this world, which have the potential to become part of history. However, such events are dependent on quite a number of agents deciding what is important enough to enter the historical canon. And one question always remains: Whose history is told by whom? Countering the conventional making of history, the Haus der Kunst has extended an invitation to Steven Claydon (Great Britain), Diango Hernández (Cuba), Mai-Thu Perret (Geneva) and Sung Hwan Kim (South Korea), all of who regard history as non-linear and fragmentary. By means of sculptures and video installations all artists will address and question important factors of history making such as authorship, personal experience, authenticity and representation. For more information, visit hausderkunst.de.



"Fashion busts Corsets: Changes of Silhouettes"
Münchner Stadtmuseum (Munich City Museum)
January 22-May 16

Entire epochs of female fashion have been shaped by one piece—the corset. Its various designs not only expressed the ideal of beauty of the time, but its particular tightness also determined female manners. The exhibition "Fashion busts Corsets: Changes of Silhouettes" will give a comprehensive overview of how the upper body of fashionable women was formed from the 18th century until today. Exhibits will include, historical gowns, laced corsets, fashion photos and pictures. For more information, visit stadtmuseum-online.de.



"Maharaja - The Splendor of India's Royal Courts"
Hypo-Kunsthalle
February 12-May 24

Bringing together more than 250 magnificent objects from India's royal courts, most of which will be on display in Europe for the first time, the Hypo-Kunsthalle will dedicate an exhibition to the splendor of Maharaja culture. The show will cover the great era of Indian aristocracy in the 18th century to its end in 1947. Apart from the artistic mastery of all exhibits, the objects, paintings and jewelry on display will show the role of the maharaja as religious leader, head of military and political ruler. Also, photographs by such acclaimed artists as Man Ray and Cecil Beaton, will document the European influence on modern Maharajas during British rule and the political changes leading to the abolition of India's princely states. For more information, visit hypo-kunsthalle.de.



"Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting"
Haus der Kunst
February 12-May 2

Over the past five decades, American-born artist Ed Ruscha has worked as a painter, filmmaker, photographer, book illustrator and graphic designer. Especially Ruscha's paintings have been inspired by his other fields of art comprising imagery of mass culture, photorealism and expressionist design. For the first time, an exhibition hall will exclusively focus on the artist's works on canvas, most of which experiment with detaching everyday objects from their original surroundings in order to transcend them to a piece of art. For more information, visit hausderkunst.de.



Maria Lassnig
Kunstbau
February 27-May 30

Born in 1919 in Austria, the main interest of Maria Lassnig has always been to make body sensations visible. Already in the 1940s, Lassnig programmatically called her works "Body Consciousness Drawings." In spite of her encounters with Surrealism and non-objective painting in Paris and New York, Lassnig always stuck to meditating on subjective impressions. On the occasion of the artist's recent 90th birthday, the Kunstbau in collaboration with Lassnig has compiled a comprehensive overview of paintings produced in the past ten years. For more information, visit lenbachhaus.de.