BERLIN.- The newspaper has served as material and subject matter for art since the mid-19th Century. Artists deal with this medium in many ways, whether in its function as an instrument of information or of manipulation. The motivations and meanings behind the use of the medium are always different. The exhibition ARTandPRESS shows 56 artistic positions on this issue.

Many artists have created new work especially for the exhibition or have selected pieces from their oeuvre. Anselm Kiefer, for example, shows his view on the subject of media change in a large installation in the central atrium of the Martin-Gropius-Bau. The young Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri deals with the subject of censorship with his installation "Newsstand". In their series of paintings "London Pictures", Gilbert & George pose questions on the production of news and the truth by quoting headlines. Ai Weiwei has created an installation of steel reinforcements especially for the exhibition. The material for this comes from earthquake-damaged school buildings, under which around a thousand pupils were buried - the steel serves as evidence in search of the truth, which was not allowed to be reported in China.

ARTandPRESS is a project initiated by the Foundation for Art and Culture in Bonn under the artistic direction of Walter Smerling. Among those serving on the expert advisory council are Götz Adriani, Heiner Bastian, Robert Fleck, Siegfried Gohr, Peter Iden Dieter Ronte and Norman Rosenthal. Hans-Joachim Petersen is the project coordinator.

Artists
Ai Weiwei • John Baldessari • Elisabetta Benassi • Joseph Beuys • Christian Boltanski • Denmark • Marlene Dumas • Angus Fairhurst • Günther Förg • Gloria Friedmann • Nikolas Gambaroff • Gilbert & George • Robert Gober • Douglas Gordon • Melissa Gordon • Andreas Gursky • Eberhard Havekost • Damien Hirst • Jenny Holzer • Marine Hugonnier • Jörg Immendorff • On Kawara • William Kentridge • Anselm Kiefer • Yves Klein • Jannis Kounellis • Barbara Kruger • Sigalit Landau • Robert Longo • Markus Lüpertz • Adam McEwen • Jonathan Meese • Mario Merz • Annette Messager • Olaf Metzel • Gustav Metzger • Aleksandra Mir • Farhad Moshiri • Sigmar Polke • Richard Prince • Robert Rauschenberg • Daniel Richter • Gerhard Richter • Thomas Ruff • Julian Schnabel • Gregor Schneider • Nedko Solakov • Rirkrit Tiravanija • Luc Tuymans • Günther Uecker • Marcel van Eeden • Angel Vergara • Kelley Walker • Andy Warhol • Franz West •Erwin Wurm