The "most beautiful museum in the world" once again shines with a top-class exhibition from the field of comic art. The focus of the new special exhibition is the cartoon duo Hauck & Bauer alias Elias Hauck and Dominik Bauer. With their cartoons, which are serious, anarchistic and comical at the same time, the duo manages first-class to capture absurd everyday situations in a minimalist way. The "midwives of extroverted humour" (German Caricature Prize) are now being honoured by the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt in a major exhibition, which can be seen until 11 July 2021.
The funniest cartoons and best strips by Hauck & Bauer, which are always created in the same way, are on display: Dominik Bauer writes the text of a joke, Elias Hauck tests and draws it, then details such as the composition of the picture or the facial expressions of the figures are discussed together. Communication takes place via e-mail and on the phone, as Hauck now lives in Berlin and Bauer in Frankfurt am Main.
The result has a very special character, which is expressed not only in the minimalist drawings. In the terse exchanges, which cover a wide range of possible topics from sports passion to interpersonal relations to politics, the protagonists almost always reveal something that usually remains unspoken, thus pointedly providing information about their ambitions and self-deceptions. In this way, Hauck & Bauer succeeds in depicting everyday German reality in those places where its inhabitants meet for fleeting everyday encounters: in the pub, on the street, over supper.
With many of the cartoons on view in the exhibition, a certain sense of recognition sets in with the viewer. That is familiar with the situations or the characters depicted. This, of course, intensifies the inimitable wit of the two artists. In addition to the cartoons, the exhibition also shows a selection of the films that Hauck & Bauer developed for Anke Engelke's show "Anke hat Zeit". The show is complemented by sculptures by the Kassel sculptor Sigi Böttcher, who transfers cartoons by Hauck & Bauer into the third dimension. Also on display is a painting by Michael Sowa, which adapts a cartoon by the duo, as well as several other objects and memorabilia from the artists' possession. All in all, this is once again a very successful exhibition that is well worth seeing and that makes you laugh and think - but first and foremost puts you in a good mood!
