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MARIANNA SIMNETT – HEADLESS

January 31st until July 5th 2026

Marianna Simnett’s solo exhibition Headless (January 31st – July 5th 2026) at the Max Ernst Museum brings together both new and earlier works by the artist, highlighting her deep connection to the ideas of Surrealism. In an expansive installation, her multidisciplinary practice unfolds like a dreamscape – shifting between video, artificial intelligence, sculpture, painting, and music. A world both strange and seductive emerges, inviting viewers into a maze of fractured realities and uncanny encounters.

Press release (PDF, 99 KB)

Press image 1: Marianna Simnett, Headless #1, Oil on canvas, 2025, Courtesy the artist and Société, Berlin, photo: Thomas Müller
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Farah Ossouli – Remember the Flight, the Bird Will Die

New Perspectives in the Leonora Carrington Hall

June 27 until October 5, 2025

Farah Ossouli is one of the first artists to engage with classical Persian miniature painting and reinterpret it within a contemporary context through her own visual language. She interweaves references from both Persian and European art and cultural history into symbolically charged images that poetically center feminist themes.

For her exhibition at the Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR, Farah Ossouli has created a new 15-part series of works. The title, Remember the Flight, the Bird Will Die, is taken from a poem by Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad (1935–1967). The series also connects with Max Ernst’s socially critical collage novel Une semaine de bonté (A Week of Kindness, 1934). A recurring motif in Ossouli's series is hair, which she stages as a multifaceted symbol pointing to femininity, intimacy, and vulnerability, as well as societal power structures, control, and political oppression.

Press image 1: Farah Ossouli, Dance, 2025, photo: © Farah Ossouli
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Press image 2: Max Ernst, Blatt zu Œdipe 14 aus Une semaine de bonté ou Les sept éléments capitaux (Eine Woche der Güte oder Die sieben Hauptelemente, 1934), © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2025, Foto: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Press image 3: Farah Ossouli, Der Sündenfall, 2025, Foto: © Farah Ossouli
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Press image 4: Farah Ossouli, Die Locken der Kindheit, 2025, Foto © Farah Ossouli
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Press image 5: Farah Ossouli, Das leuchtende Geheimnis, Foto: © Farah Ossouli
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Installation view 1: Farah Ossouli, Der Sündenfall, 2025, © Farah Ossouli, und Max Ernst, Blatt zu Œdipe 14 aus Une semaine de bonté ou Les sept éléments capitaux (Eine Woche der Güte oder Die sieben Hauptelemente, 1934), © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, Foto: N. Schäfer / LVR-ZMB
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Installation view 2: Farah Ossouli, Schmetterling, 2025, Foto: N. Schäfer / LVR-ZMB
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Installation view 3: Farah Ossouli, Das Schlangennest (Detail), 2025, Foto: N. Schäfer / LVR-ZMB
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Installation view 4: Farah Ossouli, Der Flug, Video (Still), 2025, Foto: N. Schäfer / LVR-ZMB
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Installation view 5: Farah Ossouli, Die Locken der Kindheit (Detail), 2025, Foto: N. Schäfer / LVR-ZMB
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Portrait 1: Farah Ossouli in her exhibition "Remember the Flight, the Bird Will Die" in Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR, photo: LVR-ZMB / Nicole Schäfer
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Portrait 2: Farah Ossouli in her exhibition "Remember the Flight, the Bird Will Die" in Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR, photo: LVR-ZMB / Nicole Schäfer
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Interventions

MARION VERBOOM – LOPLOP und
CHRISTOPH WESTERMEIER – SEDONA VOGEL

September 5, 2025 to July 5, 2026

Contemporary art meets Max Ernst on the occasion of the museum’s 20th anniversary.

Marion Verboom (*1983 in Nantes, lives and works in Paris) presents sculptures developed specifically for the Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR that question traditional notions of sculpture and materiality. Her surreal-looking objects evoke the assemblages of Max Ernst and unfold a playful dialogue with his work.

Christoph Westermeier (*1984 in Cologne, lives and works in Düsseldorf) artistically explores Max Ernst, Surrealism, and the entanglements with colonialism through his collages and print graphics. Starting from the life and work of Max Ernst—especially the D-Paintings—he focuses his artistic reflection on questions of cultural appropriation and foreign authorship.

Press Image 1 Marion Verboom, L'évadé, 2025, glazed ceramics and glass, Courtesy Galerie Lelong, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, Photo: Nicolas Brasseur
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Press Image 2 Christoph Westermeier, Sedona Bird I, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, Photo: Christoph Westermeier
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Installation view 1 Marion Verboom's artistic collection intervention Loplop with the Theater of Creatures on the upper floor of the permanent exhibition: Medulla 6, ceramic and steel, 2024, WENTRUP, Chla, crystal glass, plaster, steel, and cement, 2022, Galerie Lelong, Apex 1, 2021, Eurythmie, ceramic, 2023, WENTRUP, Nymphe, ceramic and crystal glass, 2024, Galerie Lelong, Megaron 2, glazed ceramic and crystal glass, 2023, Madone 3, ceramic and crystal glass, 2023, both WENTRUP, Fish, watercolor, 2025, Courtesy the artist; Max Ernst, Deux assistants (Two Assistants), bronze, 1967, Traumrose (Dream Rose), bronze, 1959, Petite tortue sur socle rond (Small Turtle on a Round Base), bronze, 1967, Âmes-soeurs (Kindred Spirits), bronze, 1961, Portrait d'un ancêtre (Portrait of an Ancestor), 1974, bronze, La plus belle (The Most Beautiful), bronze, 1967, Die Wankelmutter (The Wankel Mother), oil on canvas, 1963, Le musée de l'homme (The Museum of Man), stone with plaster, 1965, Nocturne IV (Night Piece IV), 1967, oil on wood, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, Photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Installation view 2 Marion Verboom's artistic collection intervention Loplop with the Theater of Creatures on the upper floor of the permanent exhibition: L'évadé, ceramic and crystal glass, 2025, Galerie Lelong, Megaron 1, glazed ceramic and crystal glass, 2023, WENTRUP; in the background: Max Ernst, Le lit d'Holofernes, oil on cardboard mounted on wood, 1961, L'imbécile (The Imbecile), bronze, 1961, Mon ami Pierrot (My Friend Pierrot), bronze, 1964, Max Ernst, L'oiseau soleil (The Sun Bird), oil on canvas, 1955 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Installation view 3 Marion Verboom's artistic collection intervention Loplop with the Achronies” on the ground floor of the permanent exhibition: Achronie 41, jasmonite, resin, and aluminum, 2023, WENTRUP, “Achronie 42,” jasmonite, resin, and concrete, 2023, WENTRUP, Achronie 46, jasmonite, resin, and aluminum, 2024, Galerie Lelong, Achronie 51, Jasmonite and resin, 2025, Achronie 52, Jasmonite and resin, 2025, both Courtesy the artist; in the background: Max Ernst, Les labyrinthes ne sont pas faits pour les chiens (Labyrinths Are Not Made for Dogs), oil and plaster transferred to canvas, 1923, Conseils d'ami (Friendly Advice), oil and plaster transferred to canvas, 1923, La Génie de la Bastille (The Genius of the Bastille), bronze, 1961, Capricorne (Capricorn), bronze casting from 1978, 1948, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Portrait Portrait of Marion Verboom with artistic intervention Loplop at the Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, in the background: Max Ernst, Capricorne (Capricorn), bronze casting from 1978, 1948, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Sedona Masks, bronze, 1948, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Installation view 1 Christoph Westermeier's artistic collection intervention Sedona Vogel on the upper floor of the permanent exhibition: Appropriator III, paper collages and inkjet print on book page, 2025; Max Ernst, D, oil and collage on wood, 1961, Darling D, oil and gouache on paper, ca. 1961 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Installation view 2 Christoph Westermeier's artistic collection intervention Sedona Vogel on the upper floor of the permanent exhibition: Christoph Westermeier, Appropriator II, paper collages and inkjet print on book page, 2025; left: Max Ernst, D, oil on canvas, 1953; center: Dorothea Tanning, Max in a Blue Boat, oil on canvas, 1947 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Installation view 3 Christoph Westermeier, Appropriator III and Appropriator IV, paper collages and inkjet print on book page, 2025; Max Ernst, Trois fleurs pour D (Three Flowers for Dorothea), oil on wood, 1954 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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Portrait photo Portrait of Christoph Westermeier with the artistic intervention Sedona Vogel, Appropriator III, paper collages and inkjet print on book page, 2025; in the background: Max Ernst, D, oil and collage on wood, 1961, Darling D, oil and gouache on paper, ca. 1961, D, oil on paper, 1962 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR
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FRAUKE DANNERT – DESERT AFTER RAIN

New Perspectives in the Leonora Carrington Hall

November 29, 2024 until March 9, 2025

The Desert After Rain exhibition in the Leonora Carrington Hall presents works on paper and canvas as well as wall paintings of the artist Frauke Dannert, who lives and works in Cologne.

Frauke Dannerts (born 1979 in Herdecke) creative manner of expression is based on the technique of collage, which she uses in her graphic and painting works in diverse and exciting ways. The exhibition title is a poetic reference to the artistic work of Max Ernst. Inspired by the fantastic landscape spaces and the wealth of forms in his work, Frauke Dannert has created new series of work especially for the exhibition.

Press release Frauke Dannert – Desert After Rain and Preview 2025 (PDF, 355 KB)

Press image 1 Installation view Frauke Dannert, Gelenk (Hinge), 2024, Collage on Paper, photo: LVR-ZMB / Nicole Schäfer
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Press image 2 Installation view Frauke Dannert, Stein auf Stein (Stone on Stone), 2024, wall painting, with Max Ernst's sculpture The King Playing with the Queen (1944) © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: LVR-ZMB / Nicole Schäfer
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Press image 3 Installation view Frauke Dannert, Stein auf Stein (Stone on Stone), 2024, wall painting, with Max Ernst's sculpture The King Playing with the Queen (1944) © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, photo: LVR-ZMB / Nicole Schäfer
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COLLECTION

The Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR is the only museum dedicated to the life and work of the seminal artist, image poet, and cosmopolitan Max Ernst (1891–1976). The collection spans 70 years of one of the most important, versatile, and fascinating artists of the 20th century. Numerous paintings, drawings, frottages, and collages let visitors immerse themselves in the fantastic worlds of Max Ernst’s images and demonstrate his boundless inventiveness. Visitors can also look forward to seeing a unique collection of more than 70 bronze castings and sculptures. Another heart piece of the collection are the 36 "D-paintings".These works were originally painted as gifts to the artist’s fourth wife, Dorothea Tanning – a fellow artist who was a part of his life for more than three decades.

NOTES ON THE USE OF PRESS IMAGES FOR THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

Please take note of the image details and photo credits when publishing. We would be pleased to receive a reference copy for our media review.

Outside view Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Photo: Annette Hiller / LVR-ZMB
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Outside view Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Photo: Hans-Theo Gerhards / Museum
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Outside view Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR, Photo: Hans-Theo Gerhards / Museum
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