The figures in the works of German painter Karl Kunz (1905–1971) transcend the boundaries of human anatomy, find themselves in unreal, dreamlike scenarios and dissolve into abstract colour fields. Kunz's vivid, multi-coloured, exuberant compositions are strongly influenced by Surrealism, but also testify to his interest in contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso, Oskar Schlemmer, and Max Ernst. The young painter's career was harshly interrupted by the Nazi regime when he was forced to leave his post at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle in 1933. Nevertheless, Kunz developed into one of the most innovative German figure painters of the post-war period. Although he participated in the Allgemeine Deutsche Kunstausstellung in Dresden in 1946 and exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1954, he is only loosely anchored in the art historical canon. Thus, Kunz is a true rediscovery today. The exhibition “Fantastic Bodies” shows the originality and innovative power of Kunz's oeuvre taking his depiction of the human figure as an example.

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The artistic work of Marian Ruzamski almost vanished from collective memory in the catastrophe of the 20th century, but is now experiencing a remarkable comeback. A century after his last appearance in Krakow, the artist is once again being honored at the Palace of Art. More than 130 artworks from all phases of Ruzamski's career are on display here, following their initial presentation in Solingen: from his earliest drawings from his art studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, through works created during his captivity in the First World War, works from the interwar period, to the harrowing portraits Ruzamski created in the camp infirmary of the Auschwitz concentration camp – the so-called "Auschwitz Portfolio."

Anti-bourgeois, anarchist, and pacifist, Dada, with its sharp eye and biting satire, offered social criticism, questioning prevailing values ​​as well as political and social conditions and dynamics, especially those that had led to the catastrophe of the First World War. To mark its 110th anniversary, “Open your minds at last!” celebrates the Dada art movement and demonstrates the continued relevance of its political engagement.

In the summer of 2025, Ukrainian photographic artist Hanna Melnykova walked from Germany to Ukraine, documenting her "performative walk" through photography. The exhibition shows her artistic exploration of migration, resilience, cultural connection within the current geopolitical landscape. The symbolic meaning of this walk: representing life itself. The route mapped for the project illustrates borders between nations, embodying the divide between past and future, as well as personal and collective transformation.