Humankind has been preoccupied with horror and the gruesome for as long as anyone can remember. Death and the Devil at the Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, is the first exhibition to chart this unwavering attraction across eras and genres.

The 120 works on display span fashion, art, music and film, ranging from classical painting and sculpture to elaborate installations. Featuring shoes from the Virtual Shoe Museum’s collection, the exhibition presents works by artists as diverse as Rei Kawakubo, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Billie Eilish, Lars von Trier, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Mary Sibande and many more. Death metal and MSCHF’s blood-filled trainers can be found alongside contributions by Andres Serrano and Eliza Douglas.

What these works all share is a canonised rule-breaking that transcends societal boundaries, gets under our skin and fires our imagination.

Poster image: Dmitry Smirnov, Zombie Boy (Rick Genest), 2011.

Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany (14.9.2023 till 21.1.2024)
Address: Kunstpalast, Ehrenhof 4-5, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Tue – Sun: 11:00 – 18:00
Thu: 11:00 – 21:00
Mon: closed