Lukas Töpfer

Comprising over 4 volumes with the ambiguous title " Ernstes Spiel" (Serious Play), the planned catalogue raisonné of Michael Müller's art is a unique undertaking. It will introduce the near inexhaustible oeuvre with close collaboration from the artist himself, providing a comprehensive overview of the painting and graphic art, sculpture, installations and performances. In addition, it will present Müller's texts, which cover a spectrum of different disciplines the natural sciences, poetry and linguistics, philosophy, and music. The catalogue raisonné, published in German, English and Chinese, is a project spanning several decades and, in addition to detailed documentation, will also offer a classification of Müller's art by renowned authors. Volume .3. presents Müller's painterly work from 2 2 to 2 2 in full and in detail for the first time. With accompanying essays by Lukas Töpfer, Rudolf Zwirner and Oliver Koerner von Gustorf. ???????·??????????4 ??,????????????,??????????«?????»???????????,???????????????????,??????????????????????????,??????????????????????????????????????????????????????,????????????,??????????,???????????????? ? .3? 2 2 ??2 2 ????????????·????????·????????·??·?·????????????

This book is dedicated to works by Michael Müller (*1970) commenting on four paintings by Gerhard Richter (*1932) entitled "Birkenau"; they aim to reappraise the cruel historical fact of Auschwitz II/Birkenau extermination camp in various artistic forms. Direct as the critical comments on Richter may be, they are accompanied by many less conspicuous, quieter, one might even say wounded works by Müller, which were shown at the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg in 2022/23 and will be exhibited at St. Matthew’s Church in Berlin’s Kulturforum in spring 2023 to coincide with the publication of this book. The thematic focus of both exhibitions is the so-called "Sonderkommando", a work detachment of selected Jewish prisoners from 1942 to 1944/45, who were forced to prepare for and clear up after the extermination of their fellow human beings under SS supervision and facing a constant threat to their lives. The book documents the key works of this demanding artistic investigation by Michael Müller and contextualises them in a detailed essay by art historian Lukas Töpfer (*1988). Look inside