Helke Bayrle has—on her own initiative—filmed the installations of exhibitions that have been held at Portikus since the end of 1992. This complete filmography to date is published on the occasion of the constantly growing archive of short films. It includes a full index of the recorded exhibitions, short statements by the deans and curators that have worked at Städelschule and Portikus over the past years, as well as more than 1,000 film stills taken from the short films. The British art critic and art historian Kirsty Bell reflects upon the history of Portikus and the meaning of Helke Bayrle’s work over the past decades. A republished interview between the artist Sunah Choi—editor of the films since 2001—and Helke Bayrle rounds off the publication, providing behind-the-scenes insights into the making of Portikus Under Construction.

With texts by Helke Bayrle, Kirsty Bell, Daniel Birnbaum, Sunah Choi, Nikola Dietrich, Nikolaus Hirsch, Brigitte Kölle, Kasper König, Angelika Nollert, Melanie Ohnemus, Sophie von Olfers, Philippe Pirotte, Fabian Schöneich, Jochen Volz