The human head is at once mirror, stage, and projection surface. It is the place where inner world and outer appearance meet.
faces of mind (17 January to 11 April 2026) brings together over 200 works on the subject of the head from 50 years, including painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography. The focus is not on portraits, but on an experimental field exploring form, emotion, and identity. Reduction, fragmentation, and distortion open new perspectives on what it means to be human. Gazes are questioned, masks become symbols of vulnerability, role, and self-determination.
The exhibition illustrates how artists express their inner selves and how viewers respond to them. The show brings also together artistic expression and insights from neuroscience, asking how emotion, memory, and perception arise in the brain and why faces move us so immediately. Many artists transform inner processes into visible forms, making emotions tangible that devy verbal description. Art thus becomes a resonance space between inner reality and outward expression.
Featuring works by:
Heinz Ackermans, Olasunkanmi Akomolehin, Gerhard Altenbourg, Kensise Anders, Alexander Basil, Radu Belcin, Amoako Boafo, El Bocho, Emmanuel Bornstein, Elisa Breyer, Roberto Fabelo, Rainer Fetting, Moisés Finalé, Karsten Fuge, Jose Girl, Max Grote, Maxim Gunga, Margo Guttmann, Roxana Halls, Martin Heinig, Anton Henning, Benedikt Hipp, Veronika Holcová, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Shunxiang Hu, Horst Hussel, Leiko Ikemura, Beza von Jacobs, Weston Jandacka, Aneta Kajzer, Max Kaus, Nam Kim, Dietrich Klinge, Georg Kolbe, Uwe Kowski, Clemens Krauss, Katinka Lampe, Brandon Lipchik, Stefan Ludes, Markus Lüpertz, Victor Man, Niels Shoe Meulman, Nanne Meyer, Christoph Niemann, Sarah Neumann, Idowu Oluwaseun, Mari Otberg, Justine Otto, Wolfgang Petrick, Pablo Picasso, Dario Riccardo Puggioni, Barbara Quandt, Janne Räisänen, Neo Rauch, Shanee Roe, Juno Rothaug, Christoph Ruckhäberle, Heike Ruschmeyer, Nicola Samori, Serkan Sarier, Torsten Schlüter, Michael Schmeichel, Thomas Schütte, Tamim Sibai, Tabitha Wa Thuku, Rosemarie Trockel, Max Uhlig, Ivana de Vivanco, Vincent Wenzel, Lars Wild, Zhao Yang
Aneta Kajzer Golden Boy, 2020 Öl auf Leinwand / 40 x 32 cm Sammlung Peikert, Potsdam Foto: Michael Lüder
Margo Guttmann Feminin, 2012 Öl auf Leinwand / 170 x 150 cm Courtesy of the artist Foto: Ludger Paffrath
Roxana Halls Unknown Women, Blue Kimono, 2024 Öl auf Leinwand / 64 x 54 cm Courtesy of the artist Foto: Mathew Tugwell
Nanne Meyer Serie Blei, 2011-12 Graphit auf mit Dispersionsfarbe grundiertem Makulatur Papier / 29,5 x 24,8 cm Courtesy of the artist © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 Foto: Nanne Meyer
Elisa Breyer How To Use A Tax Sheet, 2022 Öl auf Leinwand / 100 x 100 cm Sammlung Peikert, Potsdam © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 Foto: Michael Lüder
Rosemarie Trockel, Clock Owner, 2017/2025 Pigmentdruck auf Papier / 52 x 38 – 42 cm Courtesy of the artist & Sprüth Magers Copyright die Künstlerin und VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 Foto: Rosemarie Trockel
Amoako Boafo Yellow Suit Pink Tie, 2017 Öl auf Leinwand / 168 x 198 cm Miettinen Collection © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 Foto: Miettinen Collection
Shunxiang Hu The Unnameable, 2024 Öl auf Holz / 22 x 30 cm Sammlung Peikert, Potsdam Foto: Michael Lüder
Anton Henning Ohne Titel, 2014 Öl auf Leinwand / 70 x 40 cm Courtesy of the artist © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 Foto: Jörg von Bruchhausen
faces of mind is an initiative by art collectors Dr Carmen and Dr Dietmar Peikert – a project by HAUS. KUNST. MITTE. in cooperation with the PECADI Foundation.
Exhibition concept: Carmen Peikert, Dietmar Peikert, Anna Havemann
Exhibition texts: Anna Havemann
Opening: Friday, 16 January 2026, 6–10 p.m.
Exhibition period: 17.01. – 11.04.26
Supported by:
PECADI – Art Foundation
Hertie Foundation
