The idea of being able to fly has inspired people for thousands of years. But for just as long, flying was reserved for birds and celestial beings. In the late 19th century, aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal achieved human flight for the first time using gliding flight technology. From then on, aviation made enormous progress, so that at the beginning of the 20th century it was possible for humans to fly and artists also experimented with flying machines. After the Second World War, in which airplanes had caused thousands of deaths, and in view of the threat to the environment, flying, which had now become a mass phenomenon, was viewed more critically. Today, artists tend to show the darker side of human flight.

The exhibition illustrates this development with works by Balthasar Burkhard, Alexander Calder, Hans Emmenegger, Hans Erni, Luca Giordano, Claudia Di Gallo, Hendrick Goltzius, Verena Loewensberg, Meret Oppenheim, Panamarenko, Dieter Roth, Wladimir Tatlin, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Jean Tinguely, Danila Tkachenko, Sebastian Utzni, Uwe Walther and many others.