hobbypopMUSEUM on Main Street

The artist group hobbypopMUSEUM (Sophie von Hellermann, b. 1975, lives and works in London; Marie-Céline Schäfer, b. 1967, lives and works in Zhaoqing, China; and Christian Jendreiko, b. 1969, Matthias Lahme, b. 1974, Dietmar Lutz, b. 1968, and André Niebur, b. 1973, who live and work in Düsseldorf) first came to public notice with a self-designed project at the old central post office in Düsseldorf in 1998. The piece was an early example of the collective’s characteristic approach: they like to work in interactive fashion and scrutinize the phenomena of the “museum” and the “exhibition” from a variety of angles. To this purpose, they employ a wide range of media: their ensembles incorporate paintings, sculptures, photographs, and video pieces in visually powerful installations. The artist group as a band touring the world of art and transforming any venue on its never-ending roadshow into a total play of art: that is the guiding idea behind hobbypopMUSEUM.

The book, with essays by Oriane Durand, Andrew Renton, Benjamin Thorel, and Sam Watson, looks back on twenty years of hobbypopMUSEUM.