Gabriele Stötzer: Dabei sein und nicht schweigen

For over five decades, Gabriele Stötzer has been addressing issues such as justice, self-determination, and gender.

– Gabriele Stötzer, Mir gegenüber – Selbst im Spiegel, 1985

Her own body often plays a central role in this—not as an object, but as a stage for resistance and feminist self-assertion. With Being There and Not Remaining Silent, the Gropius Bau will present the artist's largest institutional solo exhibition to date, starting in June 2026.

Gabriele Stötzer's artistic practice is inextricably linked to her social and political engagement: in 1976, she was imprisoned in the GDR on charges of “defamation of the state” for a petition she had organized, whereupon she joined the literary and artistic underground and later co-founded the Erfurt artists' group. Many of her works formulate radical counter-designs to state repression and standardization by subverting boundaries and opening up space for vulnerability and longing. With around 150 works, the exhibition highlights the diversity of her experimental work, which spans painting, literature, photography, textile art, Super 8 film, performance, and actions in public space—and is intended as an impetus for the long-overdue broader reception of this pioneering artist.

Runtime: Fri, 19/06/2026 to Sun, 06/12/2026

Takes place here:

• Gropius Bau