With his mythical depictions of demons and fabulous creatures, the Austrian graphic artist and illustrator Alfred Kubin (1877-1959) was an early representative of surrealism. Like other followers of this early 20th century movement, he rejected purely rational behaviour and explored the depths of the unconscious instead. In 1909, he published his novel The Other Side, (Die Andere Seite) a classic example of the fantastic genre that tells a cryptically absurd story of a dream kingdom in decline, replete with references to metaphysics and gnostic philosophy. Borrowing the novel's title, the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum has put on an exhibition showing early works by Alfred Kubin alongside outstanding examples of contemporary art. The exhibition is designed in a way that aims to stimulate the imagination, and to highlight hints of surrealism in international contemporary artworks. With works by: Thomas Feuerstein, Alfred Kubin, Henrique Oliveira, Hans Op de Beeck, Markus Schinwald, Stéphane Thidet and others.
