The Berlinische Galerie is currently featuring an exhibition that highlights the forgotten artistic vision of Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff, showcasing her unrealized plans to create a forest of steel trees for the iconic International Congress Center (ICC) in Berlin. The exhibition reveals ambitious designs that would have transformed the building's forecourt with nine towering steel sculptures, bringing to light the individual contributions of an artist whose work has been largely overshadowed by her collaborative partnership.

Most Berliners are familiar with at least one work by the artist duo Matschinsky-Denninghoff: the famous sculpture made of chrome-nickel steel tubes that has decorated the median strip of Tauentzienstraße since 1987. However, the current exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie focuses specifically on Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff's individual artistic contributions, including her never-realized plans for the ICC. Her vision called for a forest of steel trees to be installed on the forecourt of the iconic building, a project that would have created a striking artistic landscape.

The exhibition displays a scale model from 1976-1977 at a ratio of 1:10, revealing the impressive dimensions of the proposed installation. Each steel tree would have reached approximately 5.5 meters in height with a span of 12 meters, extending 6 meters to both sides of the trunk. The ambitious project called for nine such trees to be positioned along the front side of the ICC building. The design incorporated white spheres at the ends of the tubular forms, which were intended to serve as illumination for the plaza, combining artistic vision with functional lighting.

The architectural team of Ralf Schüler and Ursulina Schüler-Witte had approached the artist during the initial planning phase of the building, requesting her proposal for designing the forecourt. Despite having prominent supporters, the project was never realized, leaving this remarkable vision as only a model and a testament to what could have been.

Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff (1923-2011) was already an established contemporary artist by the time she proposed the ICC project. Her artistic journey began remarkably early, as demonstrated by the earliest work in the current exhibition: a terracotta horse she created in 1937 at the age of just 14 years old. This piece provides insight into her lifelong dedication to sculpture and artistic expression.

The reason Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff has largely faded from public recognition lies primarily in a decision made by the couple themselves. In 1970, she chose to work exclusively with her husband Martin Matschinsky (1921-2020) as an artistic duo, retroactively attributing all works she had produced independently since 1955 to the collaborative partnership of Matschinsky-Denninghoff. This decision effectively erased her individual artistic identity from the public record.

Martin Matschinsky, who initially trained as a photographer and worked as an actor after the war, appears to have had limited artistic influence on their joint works, as the current exhibition suggests. The evidence presented indicates that Brigitte was the primary creative force behind the sculptures that became famous under the duo's name.

Recognizing this historical oversight, the Berlinische Galerie has made the deliberate choice to attribute all of Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff's early works back to her individual name. The exhibition serves not only as a showcase of her artistic vision but also as a form of artistic rehabilitation, restoring credit where it is due and ensuring that her individual contributions to Berlin's artistic landscape are properly recognized and remembered.