BERLIN.- Galerie Barbara Thumm is presenting the exhibition “Anti-Pop II”, a dynamic collaboration with Thomas Zipp. This partnership not only marks the beginning of an exciting journey between Thomas and Barbara but also paves the way for many more exciting projects to come, including an upcoming solo exhibition by Zipp in the fall at Galerie Barbara Thumm. Thomas Zip is an artist and professor at the der Universität der Künste Berlin. The following note, written by Thomas himself, offers a glimpse into his curatorial vision for this show.
Curatorial Statement
“Anti-Pop II” channels the radical defiance of the NO!art movement into the present, confronting the commodification of contemporary art through raw, urgent, and often discomforting aesthetics. The exhibition traces a lineage from Boris Lurie’s politically charged rejection of market-friendly art to a contemporary generation of artists resisting aesthetic conformity, commercial trends, and sanitized cultural narratives. “Anti-Pop II” features a wide array of artists, including Peter Bonde, Christian Eisenberger, Anna K.E., Boris Lurie, Florian Meisenberg, Manfred Peckl, Chloe Piene, Anselm Reyle, Bernhard Schreiner, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Luise-Finn Tismer, Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Gabriel Vormstein, Thomas Zipp, and Egon Zippel.
At its core, NO!art was an anti-Pop, anti- establishment movement founded in 1959—a visceral counterpoint to the sleek, consumer- driven optimism of Warhol and Lichtenstein. It rejected spectacle in favor of raw social critique and existential protest. Today, when art operates both as luxury commodity and viral spectacle, the urgent question resurfaces: what does artistic resistance look like now?
This exhibition brings together artists who, in diverse ways, challenge traditional expectations of beauty, success, and political engagement in art. From distorted figuration to material excess, from satirical self-referentiality to politically charged imagery, “Anti-Pop II” is about an art that refuses to conform, refuses to sell out, refuses to be polite.
Key Themes & Exhibition Sections
1. “NO!art Redux: Resistance & Refusal” Featuring Lurie’s original collages, this section reintroduces NO!art’s radical rejection of Pop alongside contemporary responses that resist commodification.
2. “Aesthetics of Rebellion: Ugly, Raw & Unfiltered” Works that challenge traditional ideas of beauty, embracing violence, distortion, and material excess.
3. “Irony vs. Sincerity: The Post-Pop Dilemma”
Can artists critique commercialism while still participating in it? This section examines the tension between sincerity and self-aware spectacle.
4. “Crisis Capitalism & the New Art Market”
How has hyper-commercialization turned anti- establishment aesthetics into a marketable commodity? This section questions whether artistic resistance is still possible in a system that profits from its own critique.
Installation & Atmosphere
The exhibition space itself disrupts the sanitized “white cube” experience. Walls are layered with collaged protest materials, distorted mirrors, and harsh industrial lighting. Visitors navigate an environment that is both seductive and hostile, forcing them into confrontation with the artworks rather than passive consumption.
Archival NO!art footage is interwoven with interviews to contemporary artists, forging a direct dialogue between past and present. A sound installation—layering voices from historical protest movements, financial market speculation, and artist manifestos—fills the space, creating an atmosphere of unease and urgency.
Conclusion: Why Now?
As contemporary art becomes ever more entangled in luxury markets, branding, and spectacle, the ethos of NO!art is more urgent than ever. “Anti- Pop II” is not just an exhibition—it is a call to arms, challenging viewers to reconsider the boundaries between art, politics, and capital.
By bringing together a generation of artists who reject aesthetic conformity and resist commodification, “Anti-Pop II” reaffirms art’s potential as a site of defiance, critical inquiry, and
Participating Artists & Their Role in the Show
Boris Lurie (USSR, 1924–2008) – The original anti-Pop artist. His provocative collages juxtapose Holocaust imagery with 1950s pin- ups, attacking both the art world’s apathy and the United States’ consumerist fantasies. His work forms the ideological and aesthetic foundation of the exhibition.
Anselm Reyle (Germany, 1970) – A subversive manipulator of high-end aesthetics, Reyle’s reflective foils and neon sculptures transform glamour into ironic self-parody, mirroring the fetishization of surfaces and commodities in the art market.
Thomas Zipp (Germany, 1966) – His dystopian, psychologically charged paintings and installations merge history, psychoanalysis, and dark humor to expose social and political hypocrisies, bridging NO!art’s existentialism with today’s fractured media landscape.
Peter Bonde (Denmark, 1958) – With raw, expressive gestures and provocative material choices, Bonde disrupts expectations of painterly beauty, embracing imperfection and excess.
Christian Eisenberger (Austria, 1978) – Known for his ephemeral, anti-institutional street interventions and installations, Eisenberger challenges the commodification of art through a practice that resists ownership and control.
Florian Meisenberg (Germany, 1980) – His digital- infused paintings and installations play with the tension between the virtual and the physical, exposing the contradictions of contemporary digital culture.
Anna K.E. (Georgia, 1986) – Working across performance, sculpture, and installation, K.E. explores the intersections of body, power, and resistance, often using humor and absurdity as weapons against cultural homogenization.
Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven (Belgium, 1951) – A pioneer of feminist, cybernetic, and punk-infused art, van Kerckhoven’s work interrogates gender, technology, and capitalist ideology with a raw, confrontational aesthetic.
Egon Zippel (Romania, 1960) – His collage and text-based works dismantle propaganda and media saturation, critiquing contemporary power structures with biting satire.
Manfred Peckl (Austria, 1968) – Peckl created a series of Polaroids between 1988 and 1995 in collaboration with Bernhard Schreiner. As blurred, overexposed, readily available snapshots, they stand 1:1 for a concept of life that negotiates the drastic and normality on the same level.
Bernhard Schreiner (Austria, 1971) – A former student of Professor Peter Kubelka, Schreiner works with media sound art, photography, and installation, often incorporating found materials in his practice.
Gabriel Vormstein (Germany, 1974) – Using fragile, often ephemeral materials, Vormstein’s paintings and sculptures question art’s materiality and permanence, evoking a sense of resistance against commodification.
Rudolf Schwarzkogler (Austria, 1940-1969) – His uncanny and revolutionary “action” series rejected object-based art and captured the experience of pain as a form of art.
Chloe Piene (United States, 1972) – Her drawings havebeendescribedas“brutal, delicate, figurative, forensic, erotic and fantastic”, traversed by an exploration of life and death.
Luise-Finn Tismer (Germany, 1996) – Using industrial materials and found objects, Tismer creates hybrid characters that explore the inner dialogue of a hyper-capitalist world — where the seats always seem to be taken.
