The Box Catalogues of the Städtisches Museum Mönchengladbach: 1967-1978

The exhibition catalog reinvented: the first survey of Johannes Cladders' legendary boxes

In 1967, Johannes Cladders, director of the Städtische Museum Mönchengladbach, and artist Joseph Beuys developed a new kind of museum catalog, that would be presented as a self-contained box—a miniature continuation of the exhibition it described. Cladders worked with a number of artists to create unique kassettenkataloge, or catalog-boxes, for each of their exhibitions, up until 1978; they are now legendary collectible objects. From Jasper Johns’ elegant cardboard catalog, which contained a plastic rose alongside three paper scrolls, to Piero Manzoni’s clear plastic box, the kassettenkataloge embody each artist’s respective style as well as the participatory artistic approach that defined that era. For the first time all 35 catalog-boxes are presented together, with work by Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, George Brecht, Marcel Broodthaers, James Lee Byars, Hanne Darboven, Robert Filliou, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Piero Manzoni, Panamarenko, Gerhard Richter and Lawrence Weiner.