31 May 2024 to 29 Sep 2024

«L’œuvre d’art d’Aby Warburg et les œuvres d’art des artistes»

A new work for the Hamburger Kunsthalle

Georges Adéagbo (*1942 in Cotonou, Benin) creates site-specific installations that interweave postcards, newspaper clippings, posters, books, clothing, and handwritten material with sculptures and paintings from Benin. In his assemblages – whether in his studio in Benin, in hotel rooms, or as part of exhibitions – Adéagbo combines different pictorial systems, linking things together in an Aby Warburg-like way of making connections. This creates a »poetry of analogies« in the vein of Paul Valéry.

In his work created especially for the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Adéagbo combines this homage to Aby Warburg with objects and stories from Benin, and sets ideas on a cross-cultural journey. He also creates a narrative thread linking the history of the museum building with portraits painted in Benin of former Kunsthalle directors, including Alfred Lichtwark and Uwe M. Schneede. Johann Heinrich Füssli’s painting »The Avenger« (1806/07) from the Kunsthalle collection gains a completely new dimension in the copy painted by Benoît Adanoumè, who produced the work in Benin at Adéagbo’s request, revealing that decolonization and the fight against racism are far from over.

Supported by: Stiftung Hamburger Kunstsammlungen

The first version of this installation was shown in 2019 at the Aby Warburg Haus Hamburg, in the famous oval library to be precise. Then, Adéagbo was invited by Prof. Dr. Petra Lange-Berndt, Dean of the department of Art History of the University of Hamburg. For details please visit: