The spring exhibition in 2025 presented a curated selection of works by the founder and artist Manfred Bartling. On display were watercolours on paper created in 1983, depicting a series of stick figures. The works are characterised by a deliberately reduced formal language, in which the figures consist of abstract basic shapes such as circles and lines.

The works on display depict various scenes of human interaction, with the relationships between the figures changing from picture to picture. In one work, two figures face each other in mirror image. However, they are separated by a wall. Sometimes they mirror each other's movements, sometimes they seem to be engaged in a fight. In other works, the figures enter into a closer relationship with each other. They appear to be coordinated, almost dance-like in their connection, in rhythmic harmony. The works combine themes such as harmony and tension. The interplay between these themes refers to central interpersonal dynamics.

The reference to the parallel exhibition Two Views/Three Dimensions – Artist Couple Elke Judith Wagner and Frank Dornseif is interesting. The connecting theme is the tension between closeness and distance, individuality and relationship in artistic expression, both in Bartling's work and in the dialogue between the artist couple. The theme of duality was made clear in both exhibitions.