I couldn't say how many times I've walked this path in the last ten years. It stretches for over three kilometers from our house through the agricultural landscape typical of eastern Mecklenburg to the end of the village lake. Most of the time, it was simply the walk to the lake, taken alone, with a partner, or with friends. For relaxation, for reflection, for a bit of exercise. Or to observe the vastly different moods of light throughout the seasons: an almost seamless white of sky and snow-covered earth in the winter fog, dramatic cloud formations before a thunderstorm, or an almost unreal twilight blue.



I noticed the flora and fauna along the path without looking closely or studying them in any detail. Eventually, I did ask myself what I was actually seeing. Why did I recognize many of the animal species I encountered here, but only a small fraction of the plants growing along the path? This gradually gave rise to the idea of ​​creating a photographic inventory of this familiar area over an extended period. Alongside this, I began identifying the existing animal and plant life using traditional field guides, apps, and internet research.



The shift from casual observation to focused observation constantly revealed new potential aspects of my project. Each hike brought further discoveries, and along with the astonishment at the unexpectedly high number of species came the realization that much would remain hidden from me. An encyclopedic approach to my project was illusory. Everything I could depict and name would point to the inevitable incompleteness of such an undertaking. Even though I extended this work from the originally planned one year to four, it can therefore only offer a glimpse into the inexhaustible whole.



Thirty-three black-and-white photographs of the path now form the basis of this work. They convey an impression of the character and topography of this Ice Age-shaped landscape, as well as the nature of its economic use. These are complemented by five color photographs that reflect the changing light and weather throughout the seasons. Studying the flora along the path resulted in 128 photographs of blossoms, 29 photographs of plants, and 25 images of leaves from the trees and shrubs in this area. Representing the wildlife, my brother, Martin Schink, created colored drawings of all 82 bird species observed. My book, *Am Weg* (On the Path), published in 2025 by Hartmann Books, contains not only this extensive visual material but also lists of the recorded animal and plant species and a literary text by the poet and writer Uwe Kolbe.

On behalf of the artist, the art collection, and the Romantic House, we cordially invite you and your friends to the opening of the exhibitions on Friday, December 5, 2025, at 7 p.m.!




The starry sky has always been fascinating. The view into space, which is full of secrets and possibilities, has motivated humanity for many centuries to unravel the phenomena hidden within it. Artist Hiroyuki Masuyama (*1968 in Tsukuba, Japan) approaches his work with the relentless curiosity of a researcher, devoting himself to the universe with the same passion he brings to a mundane patch of grass outside his front door.




Hiroyuki Masuyama's lightboxes exude a peculiar magic. Like radiant windows to a strange world, they shine into the exhibition space and instinctively draw viewers into their spell. Their motifs appear familiar, however, as they depict well-known paintings by the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, reproduced by Masuyama as seemingly realistic photographs.

ÜBER LAND
Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig
27 November 2025 to 1 March 2026








Hans-Christian Schink (born in Erfurt in 1961) is one of the most renowned photographic artists of our time. His series ‘Verkehrsprojekte Deutsche Einheit’ (German Unity Transport Projects) and ‘1h’, which broke new ground in black-and-white photography, made photographic history. As part of his projects, he travelled, lived and photographed our planet from Spitsbergen to Antarctica, from Machu Picchu to Kochi.

Under the title Über Land (Over Land), the MdbK is showing Schink's latest group of works. This time, the subject of the work is the landscape in the far north-east of Germany, which the photographer illuminates from different perspectives in three different sub-projects: Hinterland, Unter Wasser (Under Water) and Am Weg (On the Way). From an artistic point of view, Über Land is a multi-layered, contemporary examination of the influential tradition of European and North American landscape depictions – especially Romanticism. At the same time, the work stands at the interface of current social debates about the overexploitation of the landscape, the associated loss of biodiversity and the effects of these processes on people's experience of nature.


Wednesday, 25 February, 6 p.m
Hans-Christian Schink. Über Land (Across Country)
Conversation in the exhibition with references to works from the collection with Hans-Christian Schink and curators Philipp Freytag and Jan Nicolaisen.
Admission: €5 / €2.50, no registration required.

WIELAND PAYER
QUEST

27 September to 22 November 2025
Galerie Rothamel Erfurt

We cordially invite you and your friends to an artist talk with handmade artist quiche and exquisite quince punch this coming Saturday, November 8, at 6 p.m.

Art Karlsruhe 2026
4. bis 8. Februar

We present works by

Hjördis Baacke
Moritz Götze
Hiroyuki Masuyama
Dana Meyer
Nguyen Xuan Huy
Hans-Christian Schink
Thitz




You can find a preview of our program below.



In 2010, photographer Hans-Christian Schink embarked on a trip around the world, spending two weeks in Antarctica. The pictures he took there with an analog camera are full of devotion to the monumental and elemental nature of the landscape. Schink's large-format landscapes appear so sober, so pure, and so grandiose in their silence and vastness that they take your breath away. 
(From a text by Katrin Bettina Müller)

 
In 2025, Nguyen Xuan Huy created his painting “Mission Phoenix.” We are exhibiting it for the first time in Karlsruhe. In ancient Greece and Egypt, the phoenix was considered a legendary eagle-like bird that burst into flames at the end of its long life and left behind an egg in the ashes, from which it hatched again. The peacock-like mythical creature Fenghuang, associated with fire, is referred to as the “Chinese phoenix.” 

Nguyen Xuan Huy layers the different aspects of the phoenix concept into a monumental painting with numerous allusions: the Nike of Samothrace, a sculpture now kept in the Louvre, represents ancient Greece, while charred roof beams are reminiscent of the devastating fire at Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019.

For painter, illustrator, sculptor, and photographer Hiroyuki Masuyama, time travel is more than just a fictional possibility. It brings him into contact with fellow artists from the past and with exhibition guests from the future.

Masuyama particularly enjoys visiting the era of European Romanticism. Using hundreds of photographs, he recomposes the works of the great masters and allows us to experience their fascination anew in a contemporary form. He encounters Joseph Mallord William Turner in Venice, Rome, and London. He appears in Caspar David Friedrich's metaphysical worldviews.



Moritz Götze is one of the most important pop art artists of our time. His warm-hearted and alert works enchant viewers with their unique aura. 

He is currently embarking on a new series of large-scale works. “At my age,” says Moritz Götze (born 1964), “it's time to start exploring myths.” Myth (ancient Greek: narrative) links human existence with the world of gods, spirits, and supernatural forces. The artist combines retrospection with prophecy and erects beacons on the shores of the present to guide the course toward the future.



Shopping bags are both a reflection of our culture and cultural artifacts. Thitz recycles them in his works and paints over them with fantastic cityscapes. He creates grandiose utopias full of astonishing details and ironic allusions. Shopping bags may soon be a thing of the past. That's the way things go. This gives Thitz's paintings a new dimension: in addition to their intrinsic value as coveted art objects, they also gain the aura of irretrievable historical artifacts. The artist's works can be found in numerous public and private collections around the world.



Hjördis Baacke is new to our program. She paints forests. Her works are realistic, yet full of fascinating moments, with a special focus on light, which sometimes gives her canvases an impressive effect. Every forest has its own character, its own personality, and Baacke's forest paintings are, so to speak, unmistakable portraits.

Hjördis Baacke (born in Leipzig in 1980) studied painting at the HGB under Arno Rink and Neo Rauch. She wrote her thesis in 2007 in the field of philosophy on the topic “The Forest as a Promise” under Christoph Türcke. The artist has received various art prizes and awards. Hjördis Baacke lives in Leipzig.

We look forward to your visit!