In addition to recent works, the exhibition focused on “Signetische Zeichnung” (1994-95), a spectacular early work by the Frankfurt-based artist, which was on display in its entirety for the first time.

It was acquired by the Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V. in 2016. The collection of drawings with over 1000 sheets, which also includes drawings that were not drawn, manifests Riedel's artistic approach early on: graphic art as a self-gratifying work of art. Riedel's basic production-aesthetic idea of the process is based on the conditions of incessant possibilities of continuation and releases associations with Niklas Luhmann's publication “The Art of Society”, which appeared around the same time, in which the collapse of the boundary between work and work description is formulated and thus heralds an art production that takes on a life of its own. It raises the provocative question of the role of the artist in the circle of reproductive intelligences and meandering information structures that permeate Riedel's printmaking work in a media-expansive manner.Rik