ArtRooms – Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt

Exhibition view of the art rooms from the entrance perspective. Pictures and two display screens hang on the walls

Art Spaces

Highlights of the art collection and temporary exhibitions

Within the art section, we show highlights of the collection and temporary exhibitions related to the phenomena of the history of communication.

Permanent exhibition in the art spaces

The Museum Foundation’s art collection includes works of art from the 17th to the 21st century: Sculptures, objects and multiples through to the present day, photographic art and media art. These include outstanding works by artists such as Carl Spitzweg, Max Ernst, Franz Radziwill, Salvador Dalí and Joseph Beuys.

A small selection of the art collection is on display at the Museum of Communication in the Art Spaces area. At present, they include the well-known ‘Aphrodisiac Telephone’ by Salvador Dalí, often referred to as the lobster telephone, a piece by Joseph Beuys, a piece by Christo, and a sculpture by Markus Lüpertz, which recently entered the collection as a donation from Deutsche Post AG, as well as a piece by the Austrian artist Brigitte Kowanz.

The Aphrodisiac Telephone by Salvador Dali. A lobster lies on a dial telephone. — Brigitte Kowanz, Information-Transformation/Transformation-Information, light installation, 2000. The Austrian artist’s diptych encodes its message via Morse code, and when viewed, the information is encoded yet again, as the fluorescent light is constantly changing. The words and sentences that Kowanz writes and in turn transforms into a mysterious glow in her work are also about light.

The string telephone by Joseph Beuys. One can stands and is connected to another can with a piece of thread, forming a can telephone. — Brigitte Kowanz, Information-Transformation/Transformation-Information, light installation, 2000. The Austrian artist’s diptych encodes its message via Morse code, and when viewed, the information is encoded yet again, as the fluorescent light is constantly changing. The words and sentences that Kowanz writes and in turn transforms into a mysterious glow in her work are also about light.

Art in the museum

A permanent feature of the art presentation in Frankfurt House is also the work ‘Tribute’ by Jean-Luc Cornec. Originally created at a time when cables and tangled cords were as much a part of everyday telephony as dials, intercoms and earpieces, the curly wool of the sheep is quite simply art for younger viewers.

The media sculpture ‘Pre-Bell-Man’ is considered a symbol of the Frankfurt museum. The delicate work was extensively restored in 2019 and since then welcomes visitors again. A comprehensive publication, which you can purchase in our museum shop, has been produced for the re-creation of the work.

History of the art collection

The Museum Foundation’s art collection was founded almost 150 years ago; it consisted for a long time primarily of works with a direct subject matter related to postal operations and their history: paintings depicting stagecoaches, postal stations or letter delivery. In the 1980s, the collection was enriched by carefully selected purchases of high-quality works. By the time of the new museum building in 1990, the museum had turned away from documentary collecting and the presentation of works for communication became more important. With the establishment of the Museum Foundation in 1995, the reorientation of the museums became the broader range of topics. Communication now became the determining factor for all collections as well as exhibitions.

Changing exhibitions in the Art Spaces.

Exhibition view Stephanie Syjuco - Free Texts (2014-2020), "Feedback 5: Global Warning - Marshall McLuhan and the Arts", Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt

Parallel to the permanent presentations, the museum shows artistic and media-cultural positions in the Art Spaces, in which the phenomena of the permanent exhibition – such as acceleration, participation, networking and control – are reflected.

You can find the temporary exhibitions here: Special exhibitions