On May 1, 2026, the exhibition Imitations of Paul by Philipp Gufler opened at Galerie BQ in Berlin, for which the Paul Hoecker Research Group published the book Traces of Paul. Here are a few impressions from the exhibition, which runs through July 4, 2026.
Imitations of Paul finds Philipp Gufler taking Hoecker’s complex biography as the point of departure for an act of artistic identification. The textile and ceramic works on view explore how new forms, images, and narratives can emerge from fragmentary archival traces. And yet imitation here is not conceived as mere replication: drawing on drag as an art form, it operates as a practice of appropriation, exaggeration, and transformation—a productive process that establishes proximity, acknowledges difference, and, through repetition, brings forth something distinctly its own.
To accompany the exhibition, Splitter 19: Traces of Paul des FQAM is being published in collaboration with galley BQ in Berlin, featuring texts by Karin Althaus, Gerhard Becker, Vera Christoph, Stefan Gruhne, Philipp Gufler, Birgit Jooss, Yuliia Kizyma, Nicholas Maniu, Christina Spachtholz, and Arnisa Zeqo, who combine the exhibition and research into a performative collective work. Amid the polyphony of texts and images, Paul Hoecker emerges as part of an open process of ongoing historical and artistic re-examination.
As a founding member of the Paul Hoecker Research Group, Gufler is directly involved in the collective research into Hoecker’s life and work. This collaborative production of knowledge forms a central backdrop to the exhibition and is exemplified in the final gallery space through a presentation of relevant archival materials. The insights developed jointly within the group are ultimately translated by Gufler into his own distinct artistic perspective. The exhibition thus unfolds within a field of tension between collective knowledge production, individual authorship, and a critical reflection on a long-marginalized artistic biography.
Photos: Roman März, Courtesy: BQ, Berlin