Käthe Kruse

Käthe Kruse, born Elke Kruse in 1958, is a vibrant force in Berlin's contemporary art scene. In the early 1980s, Kruse made waves as a member of the avantgarde collective "Die Tödliche Doris", pushing boundaries between performance, music and visual arts. Her artistic journey took her from squatting in Berlin's Bauhof to exhibiting at prestigious venues like MoMA in New York. Kruse's work, often rooted in everyday objects, tackles societal issues such as domestic violence and war. Her deliberate amateurism and genre-defying approach have become her signature style. Married to Swiss writer Yves Rosset, Kruse balances her artistic career with motherhood. Since 2014, she's been creating from the historic Tauthaus in Berlin, continuing to challenge artistic norms. In 2025, the Berlinische Galerie honours her with her first comprehensive institutional retrospective in Berlin, cementing her status as a pivotal figure in contemporary German art.