Works
Cosima zu Knyphausen’s work explores narratives of lesbian history and desire, often drawing on literary and art-historical references that open spaces of longing and learning. Her paintings interweave imagined utopias and the legacies of women artists with personal and intimate motifs, developed in small formats and through diverse techniques.
A regular herself at the nearby queer bar Möbel Olfe, its interior has grown through Cosima zu Knyphausen's work as the seemingly atemporal “Homo Bar” motif since 2017— the same corner, the same light, never the same night. Between these scenes, other images surface: a women’s library, two schoolgirls frolicking together, an older couple kissing on a bar stool. In Death and the Maiden, the worn motif turns on itself: Death waits on the bed, looking knowingly at the maiden with her bony crotch pushed forward, more invitation or mutual seduction than threat. Time moves unevenly through the works, while desire lingers.
Homo Bar, 2017
soft pastel and pigment on canvas
64 x 50 cm
soft pastel and pigment on canvas
64 x 50 cm
sabiduría siniestra, 2019
acrylics and oil on canvas
24 x 33 cm
Death and the maiden, 2024/25
Vinyl paint on linen
18 x 22 cm
Homo Bar, 2022
Vinyl paint, pastel and glitter on canvas
28 x 22 cm
Homo Bar, 2025
Oil and oil sticks on linen
58 x 70 cm
The Poem, 2022
Piece of fabric, modelling paste, ink and vinyl paint on fabric
20 x 15 cm
untitled, 2024
Ink on paper
25,2 x 34 cm
acrylics and oil on canvas
24 x 33 cm
Death and the maiden, 2024/25
Vinyl paint on linen
18 x 22 cm
Homo Bar, 2022
Vinyl paint, pastel and glitter on canvas
28 x 22 cm
Homo Bar, 2025
Oil and oil sticks on linen
58 x 70 cm
The Poem, 2022
Piece of fabric, modelling paste, ink and vinyl paint on fabric
20 x 15 cm
untitled, 2024
Ink on paper
25,2 x 34 cm
Galerie im Körnerpark
27 June – 7 October 2026
Galerie im Körnerpark
Schierker Straße 8
12051 Berlin
With works by Ana María Millán, Anaïs Senli, Ella C Bernard, Kamal Aljafari, Martins Kohout, Nooshin Askari, Xenia Bond, Zuzanna Czebatul
Bärenzwinger
19 February – 10 May 2026
Bärenzwinger
Im Köllnischen Park
10179 Berlin
With Ran Zhang and Lolo & Sosaku
Galerie Im Turm
11 February – 15 March 2026
Galerie im Turm
Frankfurter Tor 1
10243 Berlin
Screening programme with video works by Crystal Z Campbell, Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard & Zayne Armstrong, John Smith, Laura Nitsch, Marta Popivoda.
With a shadow intervention from Anaïs Senli & Eduardo da Conceição.
Kunstraum Bethanien/Kreuzberg
18 October 2025 – 11 January 2026
Kunstraum Bethanien/KreuzbergMariannenplatz 2
10997 Berlin