Katrin Nahidi: Man’s Inhumanity: Günther Uecker’s Conceptual History Paintings

In her research project, Katrin Nahidi analyzes one of the 14 works Uecker created for the ifa’s touring exhibition, which developed against the background of the 1992 radical right-wing riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, Implement (On Words). The core of her investigation is found in the linking of “conceptual art” and “history painting” that occurs in Uecker’s oeuvre: a “conceptual history painting.” Using this conceptual framework, Nahidi traces the relations between event and artwork. She vividly illuminates the work’s exhibition history and explores how it unfolded its cultural-political and cross-cultural impact.