With the exhibition series "Mahlzeit!", the Museum Gunzenhauser, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz is dedicating itself to the theme of food in art in 2026. Far beyond its function as an everyday consumer good, food in art has become an artistic and historical documentation of human and social conditions. It becomes a carrier of meaning and images of socio-political discourses, socio-economic relations, social orders, cultural codes, intercultural diversity and power relations.
The three-part series kicks off with the "Feinkunsthalle" exhibition from March 7 to June 14, 2026. Inspired by the spatial structures of a store, the exhibition rooms of the Feinkunsthalle present a variety of artistic representations of food and luxury foods from the Chemnitz Art Collections. From the in-house bakery to the fruit and vegetable department, along the meat counter to the chewing gum at the checkout, the exhibition shows a wide range of artistic representations of food across all eras.
As an existential component of human life, the motif of food has always been reflected in art history in many different ways. From still lifes as the primary genre of food depiction to food discourses of the 1920s, in which vegetarian and vegan lifestyles gained in importance, to depictions of deprivation and privation in times of crisis, historical and contemporary works enter into a dialog about food as a cultural, economic and social product.
The exhibition explores the representation of the consumption and cultural history of food in art: What stories can be told through depictions of food? Which products were consumed at certain times - and in what way? What can be deduced about social and historical contexts?
In addition to still lifes and genre paintings from the 19th century, the exhibition presents works of classical modernism by artists such as Karl Schmidt Rottluff, Alexej von Jawlensky, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Otto Dix. In addition, rarely shown works from the collections will be on display, for example by Kurt Teubner, Martha Schrag and Volker Beier. Contemporary positions expand the exhibition with current perspectives. Artists from Chemnitz, such as Jan Kummer and Osmar Osten, Sophie Schmidt and Marie Lynn Specker, contribute contemporary issues with paintings, reverse glass paintings, video works and sculptures.
The exhibition will be accompanied by workshops, guided tours and event formats, which will be announced on an ongoing basis on the website and in the exhibition space.
The three-part series kicks off with the "Feinkunsthalle" exhibition from March 7 to June 14, 2026. Inspired by the spatial structures of a store, the exhibition rooms of the Feinkunsthalle present a variety of artistic representations of food and luxury foods from the Chemnitz Art Collections. From the in-house bakery to the fruit and vegetable department, along the meat counter to the chewing gum at the checkout, the exhibition shows a wide range of artistic representations of food across all eras.
As an existential component of human life, the motif of food has always been reflected in art history in many different ways. From still lifes as the primary genre of food depiction to food discourses of the 1920s, in which vegetarian and vegan lifestyles gained in importance, to depictions of deprivation and privation in times of crisis, historical and contemporary works enter into a dialog about food as a cultural, economic and social product.
The exhibition explores the representation of the consumption and cultural history of food in art: What stories can be told through depictions of food? Which products were consumed at certain times - and in what way? What can be deduced about social and historical contexts?
In addition to still lifes and genre paintings from the 19th century, the exhibition presents works of classical modernism by artists such as Karl Schmidt Rottluff, Alexej von Jawlensky, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Otto Dix. In addition, rarely shown works from the collections will be on display, for example by Kurt Teubner, Martha Schrag and Volker Beier. Contemporary positions expand the exhibition with current perspectives. Artists from Chemnitz, such as Jan Kummer and Osmar Osten, Sophie Schmidt and Marie Lynn Specker, contribute contemporary issues with paintings, reverse glass paintings, video works and sculptures.
The exhibition will be accompanied by workshops, guided tours and event formats, which will be announced on an ongoing basis on the website and in the exhibition space.
