Time Is Sin – A journey into the extraordinary life of Udo Kier
27.9. – 18.12.2024
Udo is Love Time Is Sin – A Journey into the Extraordinary Life of Udo Kier
27.9.–18.12.24
Opening: Thursday, 26.9., from 6 pm
Udo Kier was born in Cologne’s district of Lindenthal on 14 October 1944. That evening, the nurse placed all the children in the maternity ward on a table, ready to be washed. Udo’s mother asked if she could hold her son in her arms a little while longer. When the bomb struck, she was able to cover him with one hand and hold back the collapsing wall with the other. None of the other newborns survived; only the two of them were dug out of the rubble of the delivery room alive. During operation Hurricane, more bombs were dropped on the Rheinland in the space of twenty-four hours than on any other day of the Second World War.
Udo grew up in the city’s district of Mülheim. In the morning, he would fold away his wall bed and walk to school over rubble. The evening meal alternated between lentil and potato soup. On Sundays, they had a piece of meat with a green salad and pudding. After dinner he would be given fifty pfennigs and go to the cinema. His favourite film was Suddenly, Last Summer with Elizabeth Taylor. To please his mother, he began an apprenticeship at a tool wholesaler in the nearby district of Kalk. By his early twenties he’d become a qualified salesman, and travelled to London in order to learn English. He was hoping to become something like the foreign business representative for the German pharmaceutical company Bayer. He’d earned the money for the journey by working on the production line at Ford. London offered opportunities that Cologne never could. Several unknown men invited him for a glass of champagne in a nightclub. They introduced themselves as Visconti, Nureyev and Berger. Kier knew from shaving in the mirror every morning that he looked incredible. In London he discovered his good fortune of being in the right place at the right time. The singer and producer Michael Sarne gave him the part of the gigolo in Road to San Tropez (1966). Beneath the camera’s gaze, the man with the green eyes was reborn, and no one would forget them.
Robert van Ackeren, Gábor Altorjay, Kévin Blinderman / Pierre-Alexandre Mateos / Charles Teyssou, Tabea Blumenschein, Walter Bockmayer, Gábor Bódy, Marc Brandenburg, Klaus vom Bruch, Michael Buthe, Madonna Ciccone, Tom Dokoupil, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Annette Frick, Monika Funke-Stern, Greg Gorman, Gusztáv Hámos, Astrid Heibach, Birgit Hein, Wilhelm Hein, Jürgen Heiter, David Hogan, Daniel Josefsohn, Peter Kern, Udo Kier, Erwin Kneihsl, Hideo Kojima, Eckhard Kuchenbecker, Robert Longo, Guy Maddin, Charles Matton, Steven Meisel, Klaus Mettig, Elfi Mikesch, Paul Morrissey, Otto Muehl, Helmut Newton, Eva Maria Ocherbauer, Marcel Odenbach, Albert Oehlen, Kurt Raab, Ulrike Rosenbach, Ferdi Roth, Thomas Ruff, Eddy Saller, Christoph Schlingensief, Martin Schoeller, Ernst Schmidt Jr., Werner Schroeter, Elfie Semotan, Heji Shin, Katharina Sieverding, Jan Soldat, Andrea Stappert, Todd Stephens, Wolfgang Tillmans, Monika Treut, Rosemarie Trockel, Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Timo Vuorensola, Andy Warhol, Craig Zahler, Joseph Zehrer, Britta Zöllner a.o.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive program of films shown in collaboration with Film Festival Cologne: Tuesday, 1.10.2024, 7 pm: Schamlos, 1968, 78 min, KKV Tuesday, 8.10.2024, 7 pm: Flesh for Frankenstein, 1973, 95 min, KKV Tuesday, 15.10.2024, 7 pm: Blood for Dracula, 1974, 106 min, KKV Tuesday, 22.10.2024, 7 pm: Swan Song, 2021, 105 min, Filmpalast Friday, 25.10.2024, 8 pm: Belcanto oder Darf eine Nutte schluchzen?, 1977, 94 min, FHK Tuesday, 29.10.2024, 7 pm: 100 Jahre Adolf Hitler. Die letzte Stunde im Führerbunker, 1979, 48 min, KKV Friday, 1.11.2024, 8 pm: Die dritte Generation, 1979, 105 min, FHK Tuesday, 12.11.2024, 7 pm: Insel der blutigen Plantage, 1983, 88 min, KKV Friday, 15.11.2024, 9 pm: Pankow 95, 1983, FHK Saturday, 16.11.2024, 5 pm: Verführung. Die grausame Frau, 1985, 84 min, FHK Tuesday, 19.11.2024, 7 pm: Am nächsten Morgen kehrte der Minister nicht an seinen Arbeitsplatz zurück, 1985/1986, 70 min, KKV Sunday, 24.11.2024, 12 pm: Narziss und Psyche, 1980, 208 min, KKV Tuesday, 26.11.2024, 7 pm: Egomania, 1986, 83 min, KKV Saturday, 30.11.2024, 9:30 pm: Europa, 1991, 112 min, FHK Sunday, 1.12.2024, 8 pm: My Own Private Idaho, 1992, 104 min, FHK Tuesday, 3.12.2024, 7 pm: Johnny Mnemonic, 1995, 92 min, KKV Cancelled: Due to delays in production, the film screening of Bad Painter cannot take place on Sunday, 8 December. Tuesday, 10.12.2024, 7 pm: Barb Wire, 1996, 98 min, KKV Friday, 13.12.2024, 9:30 pm: Iron Sky, 2012, 92 min, FHK Saturday 14.12.2024, 5 pm: Goldflocken, 1976, 163 min, FHK Tuesday, 17.12.2024, 7 pm: Brawl in Cell Block 99, 2017, 132 min, KKV
Opening event: Wednesday, November 27, 6–8 pm in the Studio (2nd floor) of the Kölnischer Kunstverein
With works by Sophie Gogl, Matthias Groebel, Chris Korda, David Ostrowski, Claus Richter, Nora Schattauer, Frances Scholz, Andrea Stappert, Rosemarie Trockel, Joseph Zehrer and Boris Becker and Axel Hütte from Edition Ex Libris / Salon Verlag & Edition
For the 2024 Jahresgaben, orders can be made in writing from November 27 until December 15 2024. Should there be more orders than copies available, the decision will be made by lot. The lottery will be held on December 16, 2024. After the draw of the buyer(s), all interested parties will be informed in writing via email of the result of the lottery. All remaining Jahresgaben are still for sale after the lottery and can be purchased at any time.
The Jahresgaben and editions are an exclusive offer for members of the Kölnischer Kunstverein. Other interested parties are entitled to purchase by joining the Kölnischer Kunstverein in the current calendar year.
