Tata Ronkholz: Designed World. A Retrospective

Tata Ronkholz: Designed World. A Retrospective

An exhibition by Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur in collaboration with the  Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf and VAN HAM Art Estate

The artist and photographer Tata Ronkholz (1940–1997) will be honored in the spring with her first major retrospective. She is one of the first members of the class taught by Bernd Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Due to her early death Ronkholz’s work has long been recognized only partly even though her oeuvre reflects a profound and continuous engagement with multiple themes. Ronkholz is best known for her series of kiosks and small shops in the Rhineland and Ruhr area, which she began in 1977. These often small, sometimes freestanding structures, with their designs, surroundings, product offerings, and advertisements, serve as vivid testaments to everyday culture. Additionally, she created a photographic series documenting various industrial gates. Together with her fellow student Thomas Struth, she documented Düsseldorf’s Rheinhafen district from 1979 to 1981 before its transformation into the so-called “Medienhafen”.

The exhibition will also feature surprising insights into Ronkholz's early works as a freelance product designer and photographs of architectural forms taken in Italy. An accompanying catalog will be published.