The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf is hosting the first solo museum exhibition in Germany for Canadian media artist, filmmaker and essayist Jon Rafman from May 30 to September 27, 2026. At the center of the show at K21 is his current and extensive project "Mainstream Media Network" (2025), an experimental AI-based music television channel that rethinks the iconic MTV experience of the 1980s and develops it further in terms of form and content. AI models are used to generate visual and narrative content that interweaves historical media experiences with contemporary digital logics.
Since the 2010s, Rafman has been exploring the social, emotional and aesthetic effects of the internet, digital images and virtual worlds. His works, including the projects Nine Eyes of Google Street View (2008-ongoing), Kool Aid Man in Second Life (2008-2011) and the animated film Dream Journal (2019), question the influence of global visual media on perception and identity. Rafman's works overlap media culture, AI, pop music and internet aesthetics to create reflexive commentaries on our digital age. Visitors to the exhibition can experience how the artist constantly tests and develops new imaging processes in exchange with music, pop culture, fashion and design.
Services
- Admission to the exhibition "Jon Rafman. Main Stream Media" at K21 of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
- Admission to the K21 collection
