Deborah Schamoni

A.L. Steiner’s installation “Puppies & Babies” (2012) proposes a reconstitution of images categorized as ‘personal,’ ‘unartistic,’ and ‘cheesy’. How do joy and pleasure figure into the abjection of a queer archive of childbirth, familial ties and puppy love? Utilizing the photo archive as a space of proposition without limitation, images of pets, pregnancy and children have been culled and arranged into a large-scale collage which inhabits the museum’s architecture. The installation proposes a paradigmatic analysis of subject, scape and gesture from image content most often categorized as pedestrian and amateur. 

MAMA – From Mary to Merkel is dedicated to the manifold ideas of what it means to have, become or be a mother. The focus is on the societal expectations that have always influenced motherhood and are reflected in art, culture and everyday life. MAMA creates a diverse panorama including 120 works from the fourteenth century to the present day– including fathers and those without children of their own. Curated by Linda Conze, Westrey Page, and Anna Christina Schütz.

Credit: Mama. From Mary to Merkel, Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 2025. Photo: Maris Prieditis