Temporary Exhibitions

Paul Pfeiffer. Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom presents a selection of photographs, video installations, and sculptures by Paul Pfeiffer (b. 1966, Honolulu, Hawaii), where the artist explores how sporting events and popular culture are currently imbued with rituals similar to those of religion—worship, devotion, veneration. The exhibition begins in gallery 105 and continues in gallery 103.

Pfeiffer appropriates footage from sports or films, which he edits and manipulates with digital software, transforming these images into uncanny scenes set in familiar contexts. In Caryatid (2003, gallery 105), for instance, the artist removes the players from the images, so that the massive cup seems to hover alone before the crowd.

Resorting to a wide range of mediums, from miniature formats to big screens, Pfeiffer brings the collective experience into an intimate encounter with the individual viewer. Moreover, according to his usual process, he lays bare some of the exhibition installation elements, thus exposing what generally remains unseen.

In the hall leading to gallery 103, you will find the educational contents of Didaktika, which focuses on the role of the stadium as a generator of collective experiences.