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Last Night’s Fortune Teller November 2017

Acquisitions of the Daimler Art Collection Chinese Art in the context of the Daimler Art Collection Third part of an exhibition series with Chinese acquisitions

Berlin / – The exhibition ‘Last Night’s Fortune Teller’ continues the exhibition series of new acquisitions of Chinese and international art, which started in 2015. The Chinese artworks relate to a number of areas of special interest of the Daimler Art Collection, among others especially in terms of abstract and conceptual art tendencies as well as in new media forms. At the same time, these artworks represent an entirely new and distinctive complex within the collection – both culturally and aesthetically. These artworks are juxtaposed with international artist positions included in the Daimler Art Collection, thereby revealing characteristics and parallels in terms of fundamental artistic issues.

Current Exhibition Concept

Like its predecessors, the current exhibition ‘Last Night's Fortune Teller’ presents different aspects of German, Chinese, and international art. The exhibition has deliberately distanced itself from an interpretation of the works based only on the country or cultural group from which they originate, with the aim of focusing visitors' attention on the questions inherent in the pieces. The first part of the exhibition series ‘From a Poem to the Sunset’ (Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, 2015) focused primarily on installations and video artworks and presented the conceptual approaches of contemporary Chinese art. In the second part ‘On Curbstone Jewels and Cobblestones’ (Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, 2015/16), the overall theme was photographic and sculptural works. ‘Last Night's Fortune Teller’ returns to the dialogs and contrasts between the pieces on show. The focus in this latest exhibition is on sculptures and installations, together with works at the intersections between painting, photography, and video art. There is no overall thematic grouping. The exhibition can be viewed daily from 11:00 to

Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany 18:00 at the Daimler Contemporary, Haus Huth, Alte Potsdamer Str. 5, Seite 2 Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. Admission is free. The exhibition is accompanied by a booklet with a leporello, which gives an overview of all three parts of this exhibition series.

Curated by Renate Wiehager and Christian Ganzenberg

Participating artists

Guillaume Bijl (B), Monika Brandmeier (D), Ding Yi (CHN), Haris Epaminonda (CY), Ulrich Erben (D), Fang Lu (CHN), Sylvie Fleury (CH), Marius Glauer (D), José Heerkens (NL), Bethan Huws (GB), Iman Issa (EGY), Patrick Fabian Panetta (D), Michael Sayles (GB), Dayanita Singh (IND), Anita Stöhr Weber (D), DENG Dafei & HE Hai Utopia Group (CHN), Simone Westerwinter (D), Yang Fudong (CHN), Yu Honglei (CHN), Zhang Ding (CHN)

Concept and objective of Daimler Art Collection

The Daimler Art Collection was founded in 1977, and today is one of the most important and internationally renowned European corporate collections. The collection includes about 2,600 works from around 700 artists. The initial interest was in the artists from the southern German region, including teaching masters and students associated with the Stuttgart Academy like Adolf Hölzel, Oskar Schlemmer, Willi Baumeister, Hans Arp and Max Bill. With its systematic structure and focus on abstract, constructive, conceptual and minimalist positions, the Daimler Art Collection has an expanded, diverse, and artistically sound profile. Exhibitions of the works within the company, in the Daimler Contemporary at Potsdamer Platz Berlin, as well as in international museums, for example in New York, Karlsruhe, Detroit, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Singapore, São Paulo and Buenos Aires, enable a broad examination of the collection. In addition, the Daimler Art Collection offers prizes for young artists and an accompanying education program for high school students.

Further information about the Daimler Art Collection is available at: http://art.daimler.com/

Contact Sabrina Schrimpf, + 49 711 17-47074, [email protected]

Further information about Daimler AG is available at: www.media.daimler.com and www.daimler.com

Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany Daimler at a Glance Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions -Benz , Seite 3 Daimler , Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance, financial investments, credit cards, and innovative mobility services. The company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and , made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, it is a motivation and commitment of Daimler to shape safely and sustainably the future of mobility: The Group’s focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal and fascinate. Daimler consequently invests in the development of efficient drive trains with the long-term goal of locally emission-free driving: from hightech combustion engines about hybrid vehicles to electric drive trains powered by battery or fuel cell. Furthermore, the company follows a consistent path towards intelligent connectivity of its vehicles, autonomous driving and new mobility concepts. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world’s most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz (Source: Interbrand-Study „The Anatomy of Growth“, 10/5/2016), as well as Mercedes- AMG, Mercedes-Maybach and Mercedes me, the brands smart, EQ, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, FUSO, Setra and Thomas Built Buses, and Daimler Financial Services’ brands: Mercedes-Benz Bank, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Daimler Financial, moovel, car2go and mytaxi. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2016, the Group sold around 3 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 282,000 people; revenue totalled €153.3 billion and EBIT amounted to €12.9 billion.

Daimler Communications, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany