For her contribution to the exhibition series Presence at Felix-Nussbaum- Haus, Diehl delved deeply into the life and work of Felix Nussbaum. The internationally renowned artist traced Nussbaum’s footsteps during…

For her contribution to the exhibition series Presence at Felix-Nussbaum- Haus, Diehl delved deeply into the life and work of Felix Nussbaum. The internationally renowned artist traced Nussbaum’s footsteps during his exile and flight in order to determine how his work, shaped by resistance, still resonates today. His paintings in particular came under close examination for things that are not instantly noticeable, that take place outside the centre of the picture, occupying its margins, or its “folds”, as it were. Details in Nussbaum’s work detected from this perspective, such as truncated trees, musical instruments, gestures and colours, come to the fore in the photographs and films Diehl created for the exhibition. With great sensi- tivity, she steers our gaze toward the marginal, an approach typical of her work. It is here, in the spaces in between, that she searches for the truth, referencing Walter Benjamin’s Passagen-Werk when she says: “The truth resides in the folds of history, in the subjective and commonplace, that is, in what is not written in the official history books” (Johanna Diehl). The exhibition is accompanied by this catalogue.