The relationship between nature and culture plays a key role in Tony Cragg’s work. He wants to create objects ‘that exist neither in nature nor in our functional world’. To this end he uses a wide range of natural and industrially manufactured materials.

A young woman with her dog looks out, keenly and slightly provocatively, from the sketched frame of a locket. Clearly based on a photograph, the portrait appears artificial and as from another age, mainly as a result of the distortion of colours.

Alf Lechner’s sculptures are defined by his choice of material – steel. He works virtually exclusively with this material, creating works which often weigh hundreds of kilos. The monumental steel forms are stamped, pressed, broken, cut and rolled into shape during the production process according to his precise specifications.

Ida Kerkovius, born in 1879, belongs to the first generation of female artists who, albeit under difficult conditions and against much resistance, received professional training and were able to steadily pursue an artistic career thereafter.

A red figure is firmly ensconced on the forecourt of the Bundesbank’s Oldenburg branch. Like an oversized marionette, it sits in the centre of a four-part sculpture series by Bogomir Ecker which extends inside the building.

The feeling of living in a world full of interchangeable personal narratives and uniform biographies is a commonplace in modernism. Not only is almost every region on earth characterised by identical consumer possibilities and choices; the general principles, aspirations, desires and dreams of humans across the globe have, moreover, long since been standardised by the pervasiveness of media communication.

A key aspect of Albrecht Schäfer’s work is his exploration and use of space. His installations are not just stand-alone artworks; they also draw in and on the surrounding area. His “Kronleuchter” [Chandelier], on display in the foyer of the Bundesbank’s branch in Berlin, stretches the length and breadth of two floors.

Karl Otto Götz, the only German member of the international COBRA group, was one of the few artists who attempted to provide theoretical underpinning and gain public attention for the abstract gestural painting of the post-war period.