2022: Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin

Special exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin in 2022 include works by Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, and Monica Bonvicini.

The Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin is mostly used to display twentieth-century art with the current main exhibition focusing on the prewar period. The special temporary exhibitions in 2022 will focus on newer works with displays by Gerhard Richter, Barbara Kruger, and Monica Bonvicini. Time-slot reservation tickets are currently essential to visit the Neue Nationalgalerie — buy tickets online in advance from Tiqets, Get Your Guide, or SMB.

Exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin

The Neue Nationalgalerie in the Kulturforum area of Berlin reopened in September 2021 after six years of renovation work of Mies van der Rohe’s masterpiece. This art museum has no permanent display although the main exhibition area in the lower level is used for major exhibitions by the National Gallery that usually last around two years. The current exhibition The Art of Society, 1900 to 1945 will run until mid-2023 and followed by the art of an ideologically divided nation (and world) in the second half of the twentieth century.

Smaller temporary exhibitions are held in rooms in the lower level but the more prestigious space is the exhibition hall (glass hall) of the upper level and may require a surcharge and separate time-slot reservations. The Alexander Calder. Minimal/ Maximal exhibition runs until mid-February 2022.

See Top Temporary Exhibitions in the Kulturforum Berlin in 2022 for displays in the other Kulturforum area museum or an overview of the top exhibitions in all the Berlin State Museums in 2022.

Temporary Exhibitions in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin in 2022

The following special exhibitions are scheduled for the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin (New National Gallery) in 2022:

Gerhard Richter. Artist’s Books and Editions 

10 February – 29 May 2022 

To celebrate his 90th birthday, Gerhard Richter’s artist’s books will be comprehensively exhibited for the first time, providing an overview of his artistic production. These books, which Richter often mined for motifs for his paintings, and in which he experimented with various abstract processes, are indispensable for understanding his work and his conception of himself as an artist. Further special editions, drafts and letters from the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden’s Gerhard Richter Archive will join the Kunstbibliothek’s collection. 

Gerhard Richter. Künstlerbücher und Editionen in the Neue Nationalgalerie’s Grafisches Kabinett provides a unique insight into the conceptual world of Gerhard Richter. Both the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the publishing arm of Walther und Franz König Buchhandlung in Cologne, which has published almost all of Gerhard Richter’s artist’s books, have collaborated on this project. 

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas Dark Red 

24 – 27 March 2022 

Over four days, the Belgian dance company Rosas will occupy the Exhibition Hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie with a performance that offers a unique exploration of the interplay between architecture, sculpture, music, and dance. 

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s choreography, conceived especially for the iconic museum building, centers on Constantin Brancusi’s sculpture, Bird in Space (1926) from the Nationalgalerie’s collection, which is placed in the middle of the hall. The dancers, who initially move in different directions, come into contact with each other after some time and finally unite in a common upward flow of movement that seems to dissolve the boundaries of the space. 

The performance is accompanied by the music from Brian Eno’s album Another Green World (1975). 

Barbara Kruger

22 April – 28 August 2022 

The US conceptual artist Barbara Kruger (born 1945) developed a new text installation for the Exhibition Hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie that will occupy the entire floor of the exhibition space. Kruger has been known since the 1970s for her large-format posters featuring sharply worded slogans, which she uses to interrogate common social stereotypes and consumerism from a feminist perspective. 

As an homage to architect Mies van der Rohe and his famous Berlin building, the essential parts of the architecture will remain untouched by Kruger’s artistic intervention. From a distance, visitors may not even notice the exhibition; only when they enter the building itself do they truly become aware of it. (A pity, as visitors, could see for example many of the large Caldwell pieces for free through the huge glass walls!)

The exhibition has completely preserved the visual connection between the interior and exterior space. At the same time, the graphic impact of Kruger’s text work, reduced to the colors black, white, and red, creates a strong contrast with the architecture. Through the critical statements contained in the text, the artist addresses political and social issues that invite public debate. 

Monica Bonvicini. Elegance and Crime

28 October 2022 – 2 April 2023 

Since the 1980s, Monica Bonvicini (born 1965) has been a major figure in the Berlin art scene. Her first solo exhibition in the Exhibition Hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie features some of her most prominent works from the last decades, as well as new productions reflecting Bovicini’s interest in feminism and architecture. 

Through critical and ironic reinterpretations of major works by famous architects, designers, and visual artists, Bovicini uncovers some of the subtle or overlooked structures of male chauvinism that are part of the culture of modernity. A particular focus is placed on Mies van der Rohe’s museum building itself, an icon of Modernism. 

Bovicini’s minimalistic works offer alternative ways of thinking about modernism and open up a contemporary discussion around the topic of institutional critique. 

More on the Berlin State Museums (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)

Note: Most Berlin museums and similar sights are open in 2021. Time-slot reservations are essential for ALL museums. Tickets are available from Tiqets and GetYourGuide that seem to have timeslots available when SMB has already sold out — many passes or multi-museum tickets are again available. Individual museum ticket prices range from €6 to €14. Ticket reservations are only available around two weeks in advance but are likely to be sold again for longer-term planning once conditions allow.

For more general information on the Berlin State Museums:

• Top National Museum and Galleries in Berlin (brief overview)
• Berlin State Museum What Is Seen Where? (a short description of the collections in the different museums)
• New Opening Hours of Berlin State Museum (Winter 2021 / 2022).
• Regular opening hours not currently in use: Berlin State Museums Opening Hours (9 to 5 was always going to be too simple)
• Ticket Prices for Berlin State Museums (prices for museums, temporary exhibitions, combination tickets, online time-slot reservations). Buying online from Tiqets or GetYourGuide is a lot simpler and costs the same as the official museum website. Timeslot reservations are essential for ALL museums!
• Save with the Berlin Museum Pass – 30 museums in three days for €29 – a fantastic savings deal. Buy at Tiqets as an instant-use mobile ticket.
• Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (official website in German & English).

News & Temporary Exhibitions:

• Top Special Temporary Exhibitions in 2022 — overview, in the Kulturforum, in the Neue Nationalgalerie, on Museumsinsel, Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art, and the Museum of Photography.
• Top Special Temporary Exhibitions in 2021 — including the reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie, as well as the Ethnological and Asian Art Museums in the Humboldt Forum.
• Top Special Exhibitions in 2020: Highlights, in Kulturforum, on Museum Island, in the Hamburger Bahnhof, smaller museums, and the opening of the Humboldt Forum in December.
• The Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Schloss opened with exhibitions by various museums. The Ethnological and Asian Art museums are partly open but the full museums only open by 2022.
• The Neue Nationalgalerie with twentieth-century art (up to ca. 1970) reopened 22 August 2021.
• The Gemäldegallerie is partly closed until September 2023.

More Museums Reviews and Museum Specific Information:

• Alte Nationalgalerie with Caspar David Friedrich paintings.
• Altes Museum with Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art.
• Ethnological and Asian Art Museums in the Humboldtforum.
• Friedrichswerdersche Kirche with free collection of 19th-century Germany sculptures.
• Gemäldegalerie with its colleciton of German and Dutch Old Masters and Italian paintings.
• Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts)
• Musical Instruments Museum near the Berliner Philharmonie.
• Neue Nationalgalerie with early 20th-cenutry art and Alexander Calder exhibitions.
• Neues Museum with bust of Nefertiti.
• Pergamon Museum with Ishtar Gate.
• Pergamon Museum Panorama Exhibition with Asisi panoramic painting and Greek statues.
• Photography — Helmut Newton collection and historic photos.