„Before living in an exterior world, we live in an interior world.” Christa Dichgans
Dichgans, born in 1940 in Berlin and raised in Düsseldorf, studied with Fred Thieler among others, and moved to New York in the 1960s on invitation from the DAAD. She was one of the pioneering female figures of Pop Art with her meticulously expressive still lifes of mountains of toys and mass-produced goods. During her stay in New York, the artist selected a toy for her son from a pile at the Salvation Army. This moment served as the catalyst for her lifelong artistic practice, rooted in social critique and realism.
Dichgans’ works are included in several institutional collections including Kunstmuseum Bonn; Museum Ludwig, Köln; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Sammlung des Deutschen Bundestages, Berlin; Staatiche Graphische Sammlung München among others. She has been included in prominent exhibitions on Pop Art all around Europe, such as “Amazons of Pop” (MAMAC, Nice in 2020; Kunsthalle Kiel in 2022; and Kunsthaus Graz in 2023), “Power Up – Female Pop Art” at the Kunsthalle Wien (2010/2011) and “German Pop” at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2014).
