In the Shadow of the Wall
Painting from the 1960s to the 1980s

The cultural scene in West Berlin gained a new self-confidence in the 1960s and early 1970s. There was much discussion of artistic methods and anti-bourgeois lifestyles, and reflection on political issues. Many artists turned away from the non-representational painting that had dominated the art world after the war. They called for closer links between art and life. In the mid-1960s the Grossgörschen 35 group founded the first artist-run gallery in West Berlin to promote their work.

The Wall was a ubiquitous presence in Berlin from August 1961, dividing the city until November 1989. Many artists in East and West Germany saw it as a symbol of social and political torpor. In the 1970s and 1980s alternative social models and individual lifestyles evolved in the shadow of the Wall. Art by the Neue Wilde (“new fauves”) in West Berlin expressed a contemporary, aggressive attitude inspired by the city’s rock, punk and New Wave movements. Berlin was creating a new myth for itself.