19/06/2026
VOM WINDE GESTOßEN
The 70s, 80s and 90s
Group Exhibition
On view: until 28th of August 2026
Niebuhrstrasse 2, 10629 Berlin.
Thomas Wachweger
Rassenlehre, 1983, mixed technique on paper on canvas, 160 x 190 cm
"The painter Thomas Wachweger (1943-2015) repeatedly turned his artistic attention to the dark mechanisms of prejudice and ideological appropriation. With a keen sensitivity to social tensions and a deliberately provocative visual language, he exposed hidden patterns of thought and challenged deeply entrenched assumptions.
A striking testament to this engagement is the painting Racial Theory (Rassenlehre), created in 1983. In this work, Wachweger addresses the pseudoscientific racial theories of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in order to expose and deconstruct them. In place of the construct of a so-called “master race,” glorified by N**i ideology, he presents the image of a woman of color who radiates beauty, dignity, and self-assurance. Through this deliberate reversal of traditional value systems and racist attributions, the artist reveals the arbitrariness and questionable foundations of those categories that once served to justify exclusion and violence.
At the same time, Wachweger points to the social responsibility of art. His works do not merely seek aesthetic expression; they create spaces for reflection and critical self-examination. Employing irony, inversion, and disruption, he holds up a mirror to the viewer, confronting them with the contradictions and absurdities of racist thinking. In this way, Racial Theory becomes more than a painting: it stands as a quiet yet powerful plea for humanity, equality, and the transformative power of critical reflection."
