On February 14, 2026, the moment you step through the doors of Nina Horvitz Galerie, you will be greeted by an entirely different atmosphere. Susanne Kühn, who melds the academic discipline of the Leipzig School with the conceptual dynamism of New York in a single crucible, invites the viewer not merely to a selection of paintings but to a complex, multi-layered “visual field” experience with her new exhibition “Cockaigne.” Running until April 11, 2026, this show represents the pinnacle of the artist’s recent formal and conceptual explorations.
Cockaigne: Anatomy of a Myth and Its Contemporary Resonances
The exhibition’s title, Cockaigne, traces its origins to medieval mythology: a legendary land of effortless abundance, rivers of flowing wine, and a prohibition on work—an “idlers’ paradise.” Yet Kühn transports this historical reference into the present through a phonetic play: the word’s sonic resemblance to “cocaine” points to the seductive, yet equally unsettling and addictive nature of today’s hyperreal image world.
The artist constructs this duality into a visual language that both entices and disorients the viewer. What stands before us is not a single landscape, but an “image cocktail” composed of multiple overlapping layers.
Method: Layers Over Transparent Mauve
Kühn has conceived the eleven paintings that form the core of the exhibition not as independent canvases, but as one vast, integrated pictorial field. At the foundation of this field lies a transparent mauve imprimatura (initial paint layer) that dominates the atmosphere. This mauve ground acts as a mystical adhesive, binding together all the motifs layered upon it.
The motifs that appear in Kühn’s works lack any fixed hierarchy or linear narrative:
- Natural Forms: Pale green linear landscapes and hybrid tree structures in shades of pink.
- Cultural Remnants: 19th-century faience vessels and decorative elements.
- Fragmented Memory: Fragments of toy-house architecture and human hands suspended in mid-air.
- Atmospheric Elements: Mist-like diffuse clouds and monochromatic leaves.
Each of these elements functions as a “visual citation” referring to digital pixelation, biological hybridity, childhood fantasies, and the history of craftsmanship.
Spatial Expansion: Ceramics and Works on Paper
Kühn’s investigation does not remain confined to the two-dimensional boundaries of canvas. The exhibition deepens through ceramic works that carry forms from the paintings into the three-dimensional world. These ceramics serve as grounding companions, anchoring the ephemeral shapes of the paintings in material reality.
Meanwhile, the works on paper in the show recall surrealist studies. Here the artist concentrates on gesture, line, and the tension between surface and space, presenting a rawer, more immediate version of the “Cockaigne” universe.
Susanne Kühn as a Pictorial “Cocktail”
Kühn’s art transforms looking into an act of “tracking.” Rather than allowing the viewer to retreat into the safe harbor of a fixed interpretation, she encourages them to find their own path through dense accumulations of images. In the artist’s own words, this method is a “cocktail”—a complex, resistant amalgam that rewards careful, attentive looking.
Living between Freiburg and Nuremberg, and continuing her academic career as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg, Kühn ranks among the most powerful painters of her generation. Experiencing her work means not just visiting an exhibition, but simultaneously breathing in the chaos of the digital age and the splendor of classical art history.
“Cockaigne” does not offer ready-made answers; instead, it leads you along the boundary between visual intoxication and intellectual awakening. We highly recommend not missing one of the most ambitious openings on Berlin’s 2026 art calendar.
Exhibition Details
Artist: Susanne Kühn (b. 1969, Leipzig)
Venue: Nina Horvitz Galerie, Berlin
Dates: February 14 – April 11, 2026
