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75 years of Rio Reiser. Exhibition Browse Gallery Berlin
September 14 to October 12
In 1923, artist George Grosz chose “Ecce Homo” – “Behold the Man” – as the title for a portfolio of 100 caricatures intended to expose the social and moral depravity of Weimar society: the capitalist war profiteer, the lecherous philistine, the emaciated prostitute, the corrupt official.
The title refers to the words with which Pontius Pilate, according to the Gospel of John, presented the scourged Jesus to the people before his crucifixion. Over the centuries, “Ecce Homo” became an icon of Christian passion and salvation history. Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Caravaggio, and many other artists always interpreted the motif in the context of suffering, guilt, and revelation. Grosz breaks with this tradition and uses the title ironically for a sarcastic accusation: Look what has become of humanity.
In 1971, some 50 years later, Ton Steine Scherben released the song “Mein Name ist Mensch” (My Name is Human) by Rio Reiser on their first LP. It too can be read as a humanistic, subversive variation on the Ecce Homo motif. Grosz and Reiser are connected by their critical view and political positioning as artists.
Where did the song come from? According to Rio, it “simply came to light on its own.” Having come to light, “it must have been in the night before, in the cave where the creative spirits dwell.” (Hannes Eyber, Jens Johler: Rio Reiser. 100 Seiten, Reclam)
The exhibition provides insight into this “black box” of Rio's creative power. It displays original works and original recordings, fragments of his creative cosmos: drawings, photos, notes, diary entries, and interview excerpts. We see the world through Rio's eyes. He looks social realities straight in the eye—not distantly, but with compassion and solidarity, especially toward the particularly vulnerable—certainly also from his own torn identity, his experience of despair and injustice. As a human being and an artist, he seeks the truthfulness of the expression of his experience of reality and his dreams – places of longing and refuge, and at the same time sources of change. He holds fast to this and to love: Human being, you have a choice!
We see his paintings, contrasted and contextualized with photographs of urban life in Berlin in the 1970s and with contemporary images. On his 75th birthday, we seek an encounter with arguably the most influential poet in the history of German-language rock music. We see everything in the present through his eyes and hear his voice: What do we make of it?
Opening hours: Tue–Sun, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: Browse Gallery, Bergmannstr. 5, 10961 Berlin, rear courtyard
Admission: €4, reduced €2