4 October–18 November 2025
The big fashion at Wolfgang Joop’s exhibition is mainly present on large screens set up in the ground floor hall. Visitors can watch films of Joop’s collection presentations from all the major catwalks in the fashion world.
The exhibition itself only presents a few dresses that fit with its overall aesthetic and reveal a great deal about the designer’s strong ties to art. Joop’s clothes are designed for presentation in the media and on catwalks. Some of them only come to life in photographs. Seeing them live is akin to examining an oil painting closely. A close-up reveals brushstrokes, lines, scratches and a variety of textures. Encountering Joop’s designs, it becomes clear that he is an extremely skilled artist with a wealth of knowledge and versatility. At the exhibition, Joop presented only those clothing designs whose colours complemented the overall visual design or were depicted in the sketches hung next to them.
The retrospective exhibition of Wolfgang Joop’s work at the Kunsthalle in Potsdam, which has just come to an end, was rather intimate. In the small, cosy gallery space, the artist presented 225 exhibits from various art forms, including fashion-inspired drawings and sketches, paintings, sculptures, fabrics and lace, fashion designs, and videos. His works reveal inspiration from classical painting and sculpture, particularly Baroque, combined with pop art. Another visible influence is Potsdam and Sanssouci. The entire collection tells the encrypted story of Wolfgang Jopp’s life. He was born in Potsdam and spent his early childhood near the park.
Looking at Joop’s work, it is impossible to avoid the question of whether he is a painter in fashion or a tailor in art. In his works, classical art is intertwined with lace-making, weaving, and embroidery. The paintings, like the clothes, are decorated with original embroidery, which gives them a multidimensional expression and glamour. The azure sculpture of an angel with outstretched wings in the Richelieu style is an example of an allegorical combination of fabric and classical sculpture. Similarly, the series of monumental black-and-white fabrics ‘Eternal Love’, ‘Eternal Bride’, ‘Just married’ and ‘Forever Yours’ was created using both: transparent glazing and Richelieu embroidery techniques.
The works presented at the exhibition reveal certain recurring themes in the artist’s work, regardless of the field in which he is currently working. Joop has a penchant for winged figures. Wings and wing wounds are recurring motifs in his drawings, sculptures and paintings. In Joop’s work, humans are sometimes winged and sometimes wounded after losing their wings. In this way, the artist refers to himself as a creator and to the people he loved and elevated to the status of winged angels. The sculpture of a detached angel’s wing with a bleeding, heart-shaped wound made of natural amethyst is particularly poignant. The pain of lost love is palpable in this piece.
Joop’s works are multi-layered and emotionally charged. At this exhibition, the artist presented a very personal series entitled ‘Affenliebe’ for the first time, in which he comes to terms with his homosexuality and his childhood. In an interview, he reminisces about his grandmother’s jokes about ‘Affenliebe’, which he misses1. However, it is unclear whether this series of works is a poignant memory or an attempt to convey his deepest feelings to his loved ones. In this series, Joop paints small, cute monkeys surrounded by flowers and golden lace, as if to justify himself and show that it’s just the antics of little monkeys — just Affenliebe. It’s nothing dangerous.
However, some of the monkeys in these works do not seem cute. Embroidered in silver and set in openwork cages, the monkeys appear aggressive and thrash about as if trying to break free from the painting. This is another aspect of Joop’s homosexuality. He has spent his whole life fighting for his loved ones to accept him. His works scream with pain.
For Joop, fashion is a secondary theme. His work conveys emotions such as love, sadness, struggle, fear, desire, hope and disappointment. Joop craves love without disappointment, a sentiment he conveys constantly throughout his work.
- https://www.rbb24.de/kultur/beitrag/2025/10/wolfgang-joop-ausstellung-kunst-mode-potsdam.html ↩︎