Name: "God, Devil, Me and the World"
Start: 2026-08-07T18:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-08-07T21:00:00+02:00
Location: Kunstraum Rampe

Walter Spies in Bielefeld: An art experience between dream, myth, and world history

The exhibition “God, Devil, Me and the World” highlights Walter Spies as an extraordinary artist, musician, ethnographer, and bridge builder. It showcases his biography as a compelling chapter of modernity: between Dresden, Berlin, the Netherlands, and Bali, between European avant-garde and Balinese culture. The presentation at Kunstraum Rampe at Neustädter Straße 9 in Bielefeld invites an aesthetic experience that compellingly connects art history, colonial history, and personal existence. ([bielefeld.jetzt](https://www.bielefeld.jetzt/node/1951467))

An artist between worlds

Walter Spies was born in Russia in 1895, worked as a painter and musician, and sought artistic freedom early on beyond conventional boundaries. The official biography describes him as a cosmopolitan who went to Bali, found inspiration in myths, legends, and everyday life, and whose work is still interpreted today as a connection between Western modernity and Eastern imagery. His images and his life reflect an era of radical upheaval. ([walter-spies.de](https://walter-spies.de/biographie/?utm_source=openai))

Painting, music, and Balinese imagery

The exhibition provides insight into Spies as an artist with an unusually broad horizon. His painting navigates between atmospheric landscape, precise observation, and poetic elevation. The website of the Walter-Spies-Society makes it clear that his work has been present in numerous exhibitions and that the art gallery documents works from various phases, including early and Balinese motifs. For visitors, this creates a concentrated art experience that intertwines form, color, and cultural context tightly together. ([walter-spies.de](https://walter-spies.de/kuenstler-und-werke/?utm_source=openai))

Political ruptures, personal tragedy

Spies' life path is inseparably linked to the upheavals of the 20th century. The event description emphasizes his arrest as a homosexual, his later internment as a German, and his tragic death in 1942 during the sinking of the Van Imhoff off Sumatra. It is precisely this historical tension that makes the exhibition in Bielefeld so significant: it not only shows works but also the fragile existence of an artist whose freedom was threatened by political systems. ([bielefeld.jetzt](https://www.bielefeld.jetzt/node/1951467))

Kunstraum Rampe as an open art space

Kunstraum Rampe is considered a connecting space in Bielefeld between institutional museum concepts and gallery presentations. Since the 1990s, the space in the backyard of a former laundry has established itself as a place for exhibitions, readings, experimental formats, and open art concepts. This atmosphere makes the visit particularly special: close, concentrated, and dialogical. ([kunstraum-rampe.de](https://kunstraum-rampe.de/der-kunstraum/?utm_source=openai))

Conclusion

Anyone wanting to encounter Walter Spies live will experience in Bielefeld an exhibition with high cultural-historical density and strong sensual presence. “God, Devil, Me and the World” combines the consideration of works, biography, and contemporary history into an impressive reason to visit. A date for everyone who does not just want to see modern art but understand it in depth. ([bielefeld.jetzt](https://www.bielefeld.jetzt/node/1951467))