When is the exhibition open?

The exhibition is open from October 3 to December 6, 2026, Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 AM to 7 PM.

Where is the exhibition taking place?

The exhibition takes place at the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, Am Amtsteich 15, 03046 Cottbus.

How much is the admission fee?

The regular admission fee is 4 Euro. A reduced ticket is available for 3 Euro.

How long is the exhibition on view?

The exhibition is on view from October 3 to December 6, 2026.

What is shown in the exhibition?

The exhibition features posters from about three decades, including series for cultural clients, self-reflective works, and socio-political posters through self-commission.

Fons Hickmann Exhibition Cottbus 2026

Name: Fons Hickmann. Posters of Today and Before
Start: 2026-10-30T11:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-12-06T19:00:00+01:00
Location: Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst - Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus

Fons Hickmann: Posters as Visual Thinking Spaces

The Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art presents at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus a focused solo exhibition showcasing three decades of independent poster design. Fons Hickmann is one of the defining German communication designers of the present. His works combine typography, image, material, and societal reflection into precise visual statements.

Three Decades of Graphic Experimentalism

The exhibition looks back at the internationally award-winning poster work of the designer born in Hamm in 1966. Hickmann founded the design studio Fons Hickmann m23 in Berlin in 2001, focusing on complex communication systems, book and poster design, magazines, corporate design, and digital media.

His design thinking has followed an experimental approach since the 1990s: each project is understood as an independent investigation. The exhibition makes visible how typographic precision, visual sharpness, and conceptual clarity create a distinctive art direction in contemporary communication design.

Poster Art Between Commission and Intervention

The displayed posters were often created in series for cultural institutions and long-term clients. These works are complemented by self- and media-reflective designs as well as self-commissioned posters. As paper-based interventions, they negotiate socio-political themes and present the poster not only as an advertising medium but as an independent medium of public communication.

The examination of the works directs attention to the interplay of text, surface, rhythm, and image. Colors and shapes enter into dynamic relationships, while the materiality of the paper grounds the visual impact. In the exhibition atmosphere of the Diesel Power Plant, an artistic experience arises that conveys design as a sensual and intellectual experience.

Art Historical Classification and Cultural Education

Hickmann's works stand in the tradition of modern graphic design and bring its typographic, photographic, and media possibilities into the present. His posters connect elements of visual communication with strategies of conceptual art and media reflection. As a result, they open up access to questions about publicness, cultural identity, and the societal impact of design.

Fons Hickmann teaches as a professor of communication design at the University of the Arts Berlin. His studio has received more than 200 internationally relevant awards, including the Golden Bee Award, the LeadAward in Gold, iF Awards in Gold, ADC Awards, as well as the Joseph Binder Award. In 2012, the Triennale Trnava honored his oeuvre with the Master's Eye Award.

An Artistic Experience for Design and Poster Lovers

The exhibition vividly demonstrates how complex visual messages arise from letters, images, spaces, and material decisions. It invites visitors to reconsider familiar forms of advertising and to discover the poster as an independent art form, cultural memory, and social idea.

Visitors can expect an inspiring examination of works between graphic design, typography, and contemporary art. Those who want to experience the aesthetic impact of these posters directly and understand the effect of design in space should definitely visit the exhibition at the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus in person.