Museum Brandhorst’s ‘Confrontations’ closes on 27 September in Munich

Museum Brandhorst in Munich is entering the final weeks of ‘Confrontations. Gegenüberstellungen aus der Sammlung’ (‘Confrontations. Pairings from the Collection’), which closes on Sunday 27 September 2026 after opening on 23 October 2025. The exhibition pairs works from the Brandhorst Collection that have no art-historical or formal relationship to one another, using the contrast between them to open what the museum calls new spaces for thought.

Shown on the ground floor, the exhibition is described by the museum as fifty-five works by thirty-nine artists, although the artist list it publishes names thirty-six. Each work is accompanied by a text on the artist’s practice and context, and the museum states that it does not impose a definitive reading: visitors are left to make the connections themselves.

The pairings named by the museum include a steel Christmas tree by Philippe Parreno set against a single red child’s shoe by Robert Gober, a photographic series from Venice by Tarrah Krajnak beside a brightly painted rod by André Cadere, and a giant Black Hulk action figure by Arthur Jafa next to a small winner’s podium by Rosemarie Trockel.

Jafa’s practice is the exhibition’s conceptual point of reference, and his work is extensively represented in the collection; the museum quotes his term ‘affective proximity’ for the joining of starkly contrasting imagery. Invited to contribute his own confrontation from the holdings, Jafa chose Andy Warhol’s ‘Diamond Dust Shadow’ (1979) and Wade Guyton’s ‘Untitled’ (2016). Another section addresses juxtapositions internal to single works, in Jafa’s practice and in that of other artists in the collection.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Monika Bayer-Wermuth, chief curator at Museum Brandhorst, and Lena Tilk, research associate, with contributions from Dr Katharina Fischer, Dina Kagan, Franziska Linhardt and Benedikt Seerieder, and the special contribution by Jafa. Participating artists include Alexandra Bircken, Monika Baer, Nairy Baghramian, Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Marlene Dumas, Nicole Eisenman, Louis Fratino, Wade Guyton, Richard Hamilton, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Mike Kelley, Louise Lawler, Saul Leiter, Tala Madani, Mario Merz, Pope.L, Richard Prince, Amy Sillman, Cy Twombly, Kara Walker and Andy Warhol.

Two programme items fall in the closing weeks. On 3 September, 5–6 pm, Ema Gerliciová, scientific trainee at the Doerner Institute and part of the museum’s conservation department, leads an English-language tour of ‘Long Story Short’ and ‘Confrontations’, included in the admission price. Family tours follow on 12 and 26 September at 2.30 pm.

Museum Brandhorst is part of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen and stands in Munich’s Kunstareal at Theresienstraße 35A. Its collection comprises over 2,000 works by international artists ranging from the 1930s to the present. The museum is open daily except Monday, 10 am to 6 pm, and until 8 pm on Thursdays; admission is €7, reduced €5, and €1 on Sundays.