Published on occasion of the exhibition ‘1000… miles to the edge: Donation Kasper König’, 11 Nov – 17 Mar 2023, Museum Ludwig, Cologne.

As an exhibition organizer, cofounder of Skulptur Projekte Münster, curator of the major exhibitions ‘Westkunst‘ and ‘von hier aus‘ as well as Manifesta in St. Petersburg, Kasper König has played an incomparable role in shaping art discourse over the past five decades.

He was director of the Museum Ludwig for twelve years (2000–12). König is now donating a selection of works from his private collection to the Museum Ludwig.

Although he never saw himself as a traditional collector, over the decades, spontaneous purchases, souvenirs, and gifts have grown into a very personal collection. The conceptual meets offbeat humour, and major names meet unknowns. There are traces of a (professional) biography that attest to a great openness, curiosity, and a particular attitude toward art.

In close consultation with the museum, König selected some fifty works for his donation that have a special connection to the museum’s collection or complement it particularly well.

The donation includes works by Claudia Abate, Paweł Althamer, Richard Artschwager, Bernhard Johannes and Anna Blume, Jonathan Borofsky, Stanley Brouwn, Günter Brus, Hanne Darboven, Jeremy Deller, Maria Eichhorn, Ayşe Erkmen, Katharina Fritsch, Isa Genzken, Jef Geys, Dan Graham, Tue Greenfort and many others.

English and German text.

Co-published with Museum Ludwig.