Classical Modernism is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the generations of artists that followed. This catalogue sheds new light on the relationship between modern and contemporary art across the generations and across the genres, through the encounter between the artists featured in two outstanding collections.

Phyllida Barlow (*1944) tests boundaries with her monumental sculptures in an eccentric yet humorous manner, reflecting on the relationship with our environment through her use of industrial and everyday materials. With impressive installation photos and never-before-seen archival material the publication presents Barlow’s unique oeuvre from her early works until the present day.

Recognising strangeness in familiar objects, the present in the past, the construed in what is authentic – the four masterly photographers show excerpts from our world in which the boundary between reality and imagination becomes blurred. From fleeting everyday scenes to mysterious happenings and historical events, they reveal a complex and multi-layered reality.

Yinka Shonibare CBE makes colourful fabrics with presumed African origins into the trademark of his multimedia artworks. At the same time he examines complex themes like hybrid identities, colonialism and power structures with unique irony. This richly illustrated catalogue focuses on three decades of his fascinating artistic oeuvre.

Stirring paintings, colourful picture collages made from countless scraps of paper, moving photo collages – the art of Tammam Azzam (b. 1980 in Damascus) is multi-faceted, political and topical. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of the oeuvre of the Syrian artist and describes his career over the past 20 years.

Shuvinai Ashoona (*1961) is a third-generation Inuit artist based in Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada. Best known for her highly personal and imaginative iconography, Shuvinai Ashoona’s imagery ranges from closely observed naturalistic scenes of her Arctic home to monstrous  and fantastical visions.

Martin Werthmann (*1982) is one of the most prominent artists worldwide to make an intensive study of the woodcut as a genre. His monumental, multi-colour woodblock prints executed on large strips of paper, employ a radically new formal and aesthetic language that draws one in by putting the vague and diffuse into focus.

Philip Grözinger’s art derives from his investigations of future-oriented visions. With his individualistic painterly signature he invites the viewer to join him on a surreal journey through the pictorial traditions of the Pop culture of recent decades. This volume is a retrospective which provides a comprehensive overview of his outstanding oeuvre.

The book presents the installation artist Markus Heinsdorff’s continuing study of the topics of space, the forces of nature and upcycling by means of over 40 works. The overview is completed by text contributions by famous authors who interpret Heinsdorff’s international creative works from a variety of perspectives.

Jonathon Keats’ work as an artist and thinker is compelling for our time. Keats poses critical questions, asks us to fundamentally reconsider our assumptions, and proposes radical methods of response. In a time when the environment and human lifeways are experiencing unprecedented change, thought leaders like Keats are needed to encourage us to consider possibilities – from the absurd to the profound.