The exhibition “Anbaden” presents a historical overview of the motif “Susanna at the Bath,” from classical masters such as Dürer, Rubens, and Renoir, to contemporary positions like Juno Calypso or Conny Maier. The long tradition of depicting the female nude in the context of water as a symbol of fertility is illuminated, while contemporary perspectives question the traditional gaze on the female body.

The exhibited work “Susanna and the Elders” by Rubens conveys the biblical story of Susanna bathing at a fountain and being observed by two priests. When they attempt to assault her, Susanna resists, but is then falsely accused of adultery, which was punishable at that time. It seems she can’t escape the patriarchal structures no matter what she does. Perhaps the first historical “MeToo” incident? As often seen in classical works, the painter directs the focus to the body. Susanna’s fair skin radiates amidst the dark background. While condemning the two elders, one becomes a voyeur themselves.

The relevance of the theme remains unbroken. The politically charged and sexually objectified treatment of the female body in society is evident in recent discussions about allowing women to swim without covering their breasts in Berlin public pools.

In Trulee Hall’s work “Hole in the Wall (After Étant Donnés)” from 2021, the figure seems to step out of the frame, transcending the assigned gaze. But how to deal with an image motif that mostly depicts white, idealized women as victims or culprits in the form of nymphs or other mythological figures?

All texts in the exhibition were authored by the language and text-based artificial intelligence Chat GPT, except for this one.

In 1970, the Japanese Masahiro Mori described the point at which artificial beings, as they approach human behavior, are no longer accepted as realistic by humans, known as the “Uncanny Valley.”

The contrast might seem enormous, combining historical paintings with texts generated by AI. Personal worldview vs. machine-created universality. But perhaps they still share something: an Uncanny Valley.

And the question remains: Must art and artificial intelligence be realistic?