Annemarie Verna

Shadow Light

04 Oct - 17 Nov 2012

Exhibition view
SHADOW LIGHT
From James Bishop to Sol LeWitt – from Giorgio Morandi to Bram van Velde
4 October - 17 November 2012

James Bishop (*1927), Alexandre Calame (1810–1864), Antonio Calderara (1903–1978), Eugène Carrière (1849–1906), Andreas Christen (1936–2006), Joseph Egan (*1952),
Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921), Sol LeWitt (1928–2007),
Otto Meyer-Amden (1885–1933), Henri Michaux (1899–1984), Ree Morton (1936–1977),
Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964), Sylvia Plimack Mangold (*1938), David Rabinowitch (*1943),
Glen Rubsamen (*1957), Fred Sandback (1943–2003), Jan Schoonhoven (1914–1994),
Pierre Tal-Coat (1905–1985), Félix Vallotton (1865–1925), Bram van Velde (1895–1981),
Robert Wilson (*1941)

“What is more mysterious than clarity?”, writes Paul Valéry. “What more capricious than the way in which light and shade are distributed over the hours and over men?” ('Eupalinos, or the Architect')

The majority of the presented works are drawings and works on paper. A number of objects and large-format paintings are likewise part of the carefully assembled show, which also incorporates loans from private holdings. Shadow Light touches on places and moments of amalgamation and dispersal, of demarcation and nuance. Surface and depth open up in a richly differentiated dialogue. A broadly defined set of visual themes links the exhibited works whose origins span a good hundred years.

In the 1980s, James Bishop painted “Maintenant”, a canvas with a format of 193x193 cm. In 2012, the artist recalled the wonderful dark gray masterpiece with small dark paintings on paper. This gesture provided the impetus for our project as well as its guiding principle.

Bishop’s work group can thus be seen in its entirety. The other works by some fifteen artists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries find surprising areas of common ground. Shadings from deep black to mild gray point the way toward broken areas of white and the beginnings of coloration. With unaffected and natural ease, an echo chamber unfolds that touches on artistic motifs and approaches whose relevance in the history of the fine arts continues to act as a unifying, groundbreaking force.

This exhibition appeals to those of our friends who enjoy taking time for an intensive and demanding art experience.
 

Tags: James Bishop, Antonio Calderara, Andreas Christen, Joseph Egan, Lucio Fontana, Sol LeWitt, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Otto Meyer-Amden, Henri Michaux, Giorgio Morandi, Ree Morton, Sylvia Plimack-Mangold, David Rabinowitch, Glen Rubsamen, Fred Sandback, Robert Wilson