Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision | Opening

On Wednesday, 18 March 2026, the Gropius Bau will celebrate the opening of the exhibition Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision, which marks the start of the 2026 exhibition program. Admission is free on this evening (19:00-22:00 CET) and the event will be accompanied by a DJ set (20:00 CET).

The exhibition Persistence of Vision brings together the works of Peter Hujar and Liz Deschenes and brings them into an intergenerational dialog about photography. Hujar, who worked in New York City between the Stonewall protests of 1969 and the outbreak of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, captured a pivotal cultural period in haunting black and white photographs. Alongside striking images of animals, nature and decaying buildings, he portrayed the queer and avant-garde communities of Lower Manhattan, including figures such as Candy Darling, Susan Sontag and David Wojnarowicz.

As the first major exhibition of Hujar and Deschenes’ work in Berlin, it articulates an expanded understanding of photography and emphasizes the uncompromising clarity of vision that unites both artists’ practices.

Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz (Hand Touching Eye), 1981. © The Peter Hujar Archive / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026