The contrast epitomised by the title symbolises the tension that runs through the work of both artists: the juxtaposition of violence and the ordinary, of political crisis and private life. Across some 800 m², the unsparing social analyses of George Grosz (1893–1959) meet the visually powerful, multilayered paintings of Daniel Richter (b. 1962). This opens up a cross-generational perspective on the question of how art responds to times of uncertainty.

For the first time, works by both artists are systematically juxtaposed. Known as a chronicler of the Weimar Republic, Grosz dissects the social and political upheavals of his time with precise and often mercilessly honest drawings. Since the 1990s, Richter, influenced by punk, has been translating social conflicts into expressive, colour-intensive visual worlds that seek not so much to accuse as to reveal the ambivalences of the present.

Daniel Richter acknowledges the influence of George Grosz, whose drawings he encountered in a school textbook in the 1970s. Richter draws further inspiration from the deluge of images in media coverage. Socio-political events, from arson attacks on refugee accommodation in the 1990s to unlawful raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), find their way into his work.