„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).
born 1940 in Berlin, Germany
died 2018 in Berlin, Germany
2023
Christa Dichgans – Paul McCarthy, Innocent Games? Face to Face and Side by Side #9,
Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
Robert, Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin, Germany
2019
Christa Dichgans, Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich, Germany
2018
Kein Stillleben, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
2017
Plüschtieroper, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2015
Bestandsaufnahme, Köppe Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2011
Postskriptum, Galerie für moderne Fotografie, Berlin, Germany
Stiftung St. Matthäus, Berlin, Germany
2010
Spielzeugbilder 1967-77, Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich, Germany
2006
King Kong Kisses, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2000
Zum 60 – Bilder, Galerie Poll, Berlin, Germany
1997
Daniel Blau, Munich, Germany
1995
Balschug Hotel, Goethe Institut, Moscow, Russia
Musée d’Art Moderne, Nice, France
1992
Bilder 1964 – 1991, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
1985
Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany
Städtische Galerie, Viersen, Germany
1984
Galerie Hans Neuendorf, Hamburg, Germany
Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany
1978
Arte Fiera 78, Bologna, Italy
1977
Christa Dichgans – Unsere Welt : Bilder 1973 – 1977, Galerie Rudolf Springer, Berlin, Germany
1975
Lerner Heller Gallery, New York, USA
Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
1972
Christa Dichgans : Bilder 1967 – 1972, Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany
2025
The Cute Escape: Empathie, Empowerment, Empfindsamkeit, Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
2024
Dreams of an Owl, Who the Bær and the Wounded Planet, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
2022
Peeping Tom, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Ein Ding für sich allein. Skulpturen aus der Sammlung des Schloßmuseums Murnau, Germany
Sausage Party, Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium
Amazons of Pop! Künstlerinnen, Superheldinnen, Ikonen 1961-1973, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany (toured to Kunsthaus Graz afterwards)
2021
City’s, Sweetwater, Berlin, Germany
2020
Les Amazones du Pop: She Bam Pow POP WIZZ!, MAMAC, Nice, France
2019
Für Christa, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2018
Wohin das Auge reicht – As Far as the Eye Can See, Museum Würth, Künzelsau, Germany
2017
History of Art, Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany
History of Art, JRGallery, Berlin, Germany
2016
Sammlung Hussong – Alle 600 Holzpostkarten, Schloss Corvey, Höxter, Germany
2014
German Pop, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Lieber Künstler, zeichne mir! – Part 2 – Figuration, Illustration, Notation und Zeichen, Semjon Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
4 X 4, Stephan Friedman Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2012
Aufbruch Realismus – Die neue Wirklichkeit im Bild nach ’68, Kunsthalle Vogelmann, Heilbronn, Germany
2011
Power Up Female Pop Art, Städtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany
2010
Power Up Female Pop Art, Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquatier, Vienna, Austria
2009
kratzen – ätzen – pressen, XYLON – Museum + Werkstätten e.V.
1991
Interferenzen: Kunst aus Westberlin: 1960 – 1990, Latvian National Museum of Arts,
Riga, Latvia
1989
Art in Berlin 1815 – 1989, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, USA
1986
Berlin Aujour D’Hui, Musée d’Art de Toulon, Toulon, France
1985
Group Exhibition, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
1984
Zukunfsträume, Orangerie Karslaue, Kassel, Germany, Städtische Galerie, Palais
Stuterheim, Erlangen, Germany; Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria
1983
Mensch und Landschaft in der zeitgenössischen Malerei und Grafik in der
Bundesrepublik, Moscow, Russia; Lenningrand, Russia, Nowosibirks, Russia
All Over, Städtisches Museum Schloss Hardenberg, Velbert, Germany
1979
Malerei in Berlin 1970 bis heute, Städtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany
1978
Museum des Geldes, Düsseldorfer Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
International Exhibition of Art – Promoting Posters, Tel Aviv, Israel
Deutscher Künstlerbund-Ausstellung, Berlin, Germany
1977
Neuerwerbungen, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Manscape, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, USA
Zur Kunstförderung in Deutschland, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany
Villa Romana Florenz, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany
1971
Villa Romana, Florence, Italy
1970
Atuel Kunst fra Vesterblin, Pa Genthofte Radhuos, Copenhagen, Denmark