The SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT is one of Europe’s most renowned exhibition halls. Since its founding in 1986, it has presented more than 220 exhibitions, equally devoted to contemporary stances in art and art of the modern era. In “Women Impressionists” it offered the first look at the female representatives of the movement; in “Esprit Montmartre” it opened a window to the world of Paris bohemians; in “German Pop” it highlighted the surprising aspects of German Pop Art; and in “STORM Women” it presented exclusively women of the avant-garde in Berlin from the 1910s to the 1930s. Themes of relevance to social and cultural history have been illuminated, such as “Shopping – A Century of Art and Consumer Culture”, “Privacy”, the visual art of the Stalin era or the self-portrait in contemporary art.
The concept developed by the SCHIRN also encompasses large-scale solo exhibitions devoted to specific aspects of the oeuvres of individual artists, including Carsten Nicolai, Odilon Redon, Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin-Kienholz, Haris Epaminonda, Edvard Munch, Jeff Koons, Gustave Courbet, Yoko Ono, Théodore Géricault, Philip Guston, Helene Schjerfbeck, Ulay, Alberto Giacometti and Bruce Nauman or René Magritte. Jan De Cock, Jonathan Meese, John Bock, Mike Bouchet, Tobias Rehberger and Doug Aitken have developed exhibitions specifically for the Schirn or presented new works and work groups for the first time at the Schirn (the most recent example was Daniel Richter).
The SCHIRN KUNSTHALLE FRANKFURT regards itself as a place of discovery and a seismograph designed to register explosive developments in visual art. Its goal is to introduce new points of view and break away from traditional modes of reception. It also offers a distinctive range of current and focused educational and communicative activities for all age groups – including the permanent games and learning circuit, the MINISCHIRN.