German painting two thousand and three alludes to the contemporary situation in its title, which is not necessarily to say it advances a radical counterprogram to classical discourses of painting. Nor does it set out to sketch current themes and trends, or to identify a national phenomenon, which painting most certainly isn?t. The title?s specifically German element is more a response to the needs and social circumstances that have given rise to painting?s present (return to) popularity, and to the strategies young artists in particular are developing to meet this. The focus is on individual approaches that seem symptomatic at present insofar as they strive to occupy up-to-date positions, adopting diverse strategies to integrate painting?s historical potential for critique and reflection.With a text by Ingo Niermann and numerous colour reproductions, the catalogue documents over 50 current positions of predominantly younger German or in Germany living artists.Artists: Tomma Abts, Yesim Akdeniz Graf, Kai Althoff, Monika Baer, Frank Bauer, Dirk Bell, Umit Bilgi, Henning Bohl, Andre Butzer, Thomas Eggerer, Tim Eitel, Jesko Fezer/Axel John Wieder, Lutz Fezer, Christian Flamm, Carsten Fock, Caroline von Grone, Katharina Grosse, Gabi Hamm, Sebastian Hammwohner/Uwe Henneken/Dani Jakob/Gabriel Vormstein, Klaus Hartmann, Eberhard Havekost, Tilo Heinzmann, Andreas Hofer, Sergej Jensen, Johannes Kahrs, Kiron Khosla, Jutta Koether, Hendrik Krawen, Kalin Lindena, Dietmar Lutz, Antje Majewski, Bernhard Martin, Rupprecht Matthies, Jonathan Meese, Birgit Megerle, Stephan Melzl, Klaus Merkel, Stefan Muller, Martin Neumaier, Frank Nitsche, Silke Otto-Knapp, Susanne Paesler, Gunter Reski, Anselm Reyle, Thomas Scheibitz, Tilo Schulz, Andreas Schulze, Eva Schwab, Markus Selg, Torsten Slama, Johannes Spehr, Lee Thomas Taylor, Wawrzyniec Tokarski, Corinne Wasmuht, Thomas Werner, Johannes Wohnseifer, Daniela Wolfer, Katharina Wulff, Amelie von Wulffen