Piet Mondrian had a decisive influence on the development of painting from figuration to abstraction. On the occasion of his 150th birthday, Mondrian Evolution is dedicated to his multifaceted work and artistic development. Initially working in the tradition of Dutch landscape painting of the late 19th century, Symbolism and Cubism subsequently took on great significance for him. It was not until the early 1920s that the artist focused on a wholly non-representational pictorial vocabulary, limited to the rectangular arrangement of black lines with surfaces in white and the primary colors blue, red and yellow. In separate chapters, this path is traced through motifs such as windmills, dunes, and the sea, farms reflected in the water, and plants in various forms of abstraction.

The artist Cao Fei (* 1978) lives in Beijing. In her work she makes use of the latest digital media. Her projects lie on the threshold between reality and fiction and reflect the societal and urban situation in China. The videos, photographs, drawings and multimedia installations represent her entire artistic oeuvre. In her works, which vary between the aesthetics of documentary, film and virtual reality, Cao Fei reflects the reality of life in China and the constant fundamental changes. In doing so she also draws on her personal surroundings in Beijing. As an artist she addresses questions which are universally valid: where is the development in big cities leading? What is my place within urban society? Am I a critical observer of gentrification processes and at the same time a part of the problem?