A Nail to Hang the Day On
Kunstverein in Hamburg
June 5 – September 22 2026
https://www.kunstverein.de/
The German conceptual artist Anna Oppermann (1940–1993) developed her method of so-called “ensembles” in the early 1970s and gained international recognition for her unique, process-oriented image-space arrangements. In her works, Oppermann interweaved everyday life, science, art, and social critique with questions of perception, power, and identity. The open framework of references—comprising drawings, photographs, texts, and objects—reveals processes of gaining insight through awareness exercises, along with their associated detours and contradictions.
Anna Oppermann lived in Hamburg and Celle, and held teaching positions in Hamburg, Wuppertal, and Berlin. In addition to institutional solo exhibitions, she participated in numerous international group shows during the 1970s and 1980s, including documenta 6 (1977), documenta 8 (1987), and the Venice Biennale (1978). In 2023, her extensive body of work was explored in depth in the exhibition Anna Oppermann. A Retroperspective at Bundeskunsthalle Bonn.
Current
Biography
| 1940 | born in Eutin, Germany, lived in Hamburg and Celle, Germany |
| 1962–68 | studied graphic art and painting at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg and philosophy at the University of Hamburg, Germany |
| 1976-78 | taught at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg |
| 1982-90 | professorship for Communication and Design at the University of Wuppertal |
| 1990-93 | professorship at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin |
| 1993 | died in Celle |
| 1968/69 | DAAD scholarship, residency in Paris, France (scholarship) |
| 1977 | Edwin Scharff Prize of the City of Hamburg, Germany (prize) Villa Romana Prize, residency in Florence, Italy (prize and scholarship) Advancement Award of the Kulturkreis im BDI, Germany (prize) |
| 1980 | Glockengasse Advancement Award, Germany (prize) |
| 1981 | Cité Internationale des Arts scholarship, residency in Paris, France (scholarship) |
| 1982 | Kunstpreis Berlin - Advancement Award for Fine Arts, Germany (prize) |
| 1985 | Prize of the Heitland Foundation, Germany (prize) |
| 1987 | Barkenhoff scholarship, residency in Worpswede, Germany (scholarship) |
| 1989 | Lower Saxony Artists’ Scholarship, Germany (scholarship) |
| Bernoully Collection, Frankfurt/Main |
| Bundeskunstsammlung |
| Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg |
| Generali Foundation, Vienna |
| Hamburger Kunsthalle |
| Kienzle Collection, Berlin |
| Kunsthalle Bielefeld |
| Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz |
| Kunstmuseum Stuttgart |
| Kunstpalast Düsseldorf |
| K21 Collection, Düsseldorf |
| LaM, Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut |
| Lenbachhaus, Munich |
| Ludwig Collection, Aachen |
| mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien |
| Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach |
| Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney |
| Nationalgalerie Collection at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin |
| Sprengel Museum Hannover |