FRANKFURT.- From February 25 to May 23, 2026, the DZ BANK Art Foundation in Frankfurt presents n+1. More than one image, a group exhibition that explores one of contemporary art’s most compelling strategies: repetition. Stacked, sequenced, layered, paired—works in the show demonstrate how artists move beyond the single image to create meaning through accumulation, variation, and connection.
The title, n+1, may sound like a mathematical equation, but here it signals something far more poetic. It suggests multiplicity—the idea that a work of art can emerge from the interplay of many elements rather than from one isolated image. Across installations, series, cycles, clusters, and archival arrangements, the exhibition reveals how artists use seriality not simply as a formal device, but as a way of thinking.
At its core, the exhibition asks what happens when images are placed side by side. How do variations shift our perception? How does repetition alter meaning? And how does the act of comparing—of looking back and forth—activate the viewer?
The curatorial process mirrors the exhibition’s theme. Christina Leber, Artistic Director of the DZ BANK Art Foundation, collaborated with Steffen Siegel, Professor of Theory and History of Photography at the Folkwang University of the Arts, as well as students from the master’s program Photography Studies and Research. During the winter semester of 2025/2026, the exhibition took shape through collective experimentation—through testing combinations, rethinking constellations, and allowing new relationships between works to emerge. The final presentation reflects this layered, collaborative approach.
The participating artists approach seriality from diverse perspectives. Heba Y. Amin, Sven Johne, and Loredana Nemes construct narrative sequences that weave together memory, movement, and questions of belonging. Their works unfold across time, inviting viewers to trace emotional and political undercurrents from image to image.
Other artists turn to archives and systems of order. Sophie Thun, Barbara Proschak, and Philipp Goldbach examine collections, materials, and classification structures—revealing how knowledge is organized and how visual memory is constructed. In these works, repetition becomes a tool for both preservation and critique.
Meanwhile, variations of a single motif open new spatial and perceptual possibilities. David Hockney’s collages, alongside works by Peter Miller and Katarína Dubovská, demonstrate how fragmented images can expand the experience of space and time. The serial processes of Dörte Eißfeldt, Jan Paul Evers, and Adrian Sauer emphasize the act of making itself, foregrounding experimentation and transformation.
Performance and action also play a role. Works by Sara Cwynar, Jürgen Klauke, Helmut Schweizer, and Roman Signer introduce the body, gesture, and movement as central elements. Here, repetition unfolds not just across images but through time, embedding the serial principle in lived experience.
Ultimately, n+1 positions viewers as active participants. The exhibition comes fully alive only through comparison, memory, and connection. As visitors move through the galleries—linking images, recalling earlier works, and forming their own associations—they become part of the evolving structure.
In this way, n+1. More than one image is not simply about repetition. It is about relationships—between images, between artists, between curators and students, and between artworks and their audience. It is a reminder that meaning often lies not in the singular, but in the space between.
