Bethan Huws
Reading Duchamp – Research Notes 2007-2014
06 Apr - 04 May 2019
Installation view Bethan Huws, Research Notes 2007-2014, Kunstmuseum Bern, 2014, Courtesy of the artist / Copyrights Bethan Huws & VG-Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2019
BETHAN HUWS
Reading Duchamp – Research Notes 2007-2014
6 April - 4 May 2019
curated by Lukas Töpfer
From April 6 to May 4, 2019, KUNSTSAELE Berlin present the solo exhibition “Reading Duchamp – Research Notes 2007-2014” by the Welsh artist Bethan Huws (*1961). Huws has concerned herself with Marcel Duchamp since the mid-1990s, in works such as “Fountain” (2009) and her large-scale installation “Forest” (2008/09) for example. Since 2007, her intensive research has gradually grown into thousands of loose A4 sheets with a wealth of associations, insights, interpretations and connections: the “research notes”. They are composed of photocopies, reproductions, drawings, documents, collages and postcards dedicated either to “individual works” or to overarching themes in Duchamp’s oeuvre (“general files”). The “general files” are presented in ring binders on tables and contain research on recurring motifs, subjects, shapes, colours, numbers, people, etc. The “individual works” are discussed on single A4 sheets on the wall which give detailed comments on many of Duchamp’s significant works. The “research notes” are an overwhelming, expansive installation, but also an unusual and unique interpretation of a leading modern artist. Huws applies Duchamp’s method to Duchamp’s own work: the meaning is not fixed, but again and again set in motion through associations. The artist reveals ambiguities, ambivalences, references and especially wordplays that characterize not only Duchamp’s oeuvre, but also her own language-based work. She embeds Duchamp’s works in their original French and American contexts, exposes new layers of meaning and makes them part of her own artistic practice. Huws thereby draws attention to the fact that works of art are co-created by the recipient and creates awareness for the process in which art is enriched with significance. The “research notes” are an intelligent, but equally sensual and visually rich project that gives joy where it is too often missing: in the endless search for meaning.
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Bethan Huws was born in 1961 in Bangor, Wales. She studied at Middlesex Polytechnic (1981-1985) and at the Royal College of Art (1986-1988) in London. In 2003, she represented Wales at the 50th Venice Biennale. She lives in Berlin and Paris. Huws became internationally known in the early 1990s through a series of subtle architectural interventions into the floor structure of exhibition spaces. Frequently exhibited are her “Word Vitrines”, her small, handmade reed boats, neon and text works, found objects, sculptures, installations and films. Recurring motifs in her work are the memory of her rural Welsh homeland as well as wordplays, ambiguities and complex reference systems. Solo exhibitions by Bethan Huws were presented, among others, at Kunsthalle Bern (1990), Lenbachhaus, Munich (2000), Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2003), Tate Modern (2004) and Tate Britain (2010) as well as Whitechapel Art Gallery in London (2011). The “research notes” were exhibited at Kunsthalle Bern in 2014 and at the Museum of Modern Art Kyoto in 2017. At KUNSTSAELE they are shown in the immediate vicinity of their place of origin: Huws’ studio. It is their first public presentation in Berlin. A detailed essay on the “research notes” can be found here: Hans Rudolf Reust: Ways of Reading – Re-reading Bethan Huws’ “Reading Duchamp”
Reading Duchamp – Research Notes 2007-2014
6 April - 4 May 2019
curated by Lukas Töpfer
From April 6 to May 4, 2019, KUNSTSAELE Berlin present the solo exhibition “Reading Duchamp – Research Notes 2007-2014” by the Welsh artist Bethan Huws (*1961). Huws has concerned herself with Marcel Duchamp since the mid-1990s, in works such as “Fountain” (2009) and her large-scale installation “Forest” (2008/09) for example. Since 2007, her intensive research has gradually grown into thousands of loose A4 sheets with a wealth of associations, insights, interpretations and connections: the “research notes”. They are composed of photocopies, reproductions, drawings, documents, collages and postcards dedicated either to “individual works” or to overarching themes in Duchamp’s oeuvre (“general files”). The “general files” are presented in ring binders on tables and contain research on recurring motifs, subjects, shapes, colours, numbers, people, etc. The “individual works” are discussed on single A4 sheets on the wall which give detailed comments on many of Duchamp’s significant works. The “research notes” are an overwhelming, expansive installation, but also an unusual and unique interpretation of a leading modern artist. Huws applies Duchamp’s method to Duchamp’s own work: the meaning is not fixed, but again and again set in motion through associations. The artist reveals ambiguities, ambivalences, references and especially wordplays that characterize not only Duchamp’s oeuvre, but also her own language-based work. She embeds Duchamp’s works in their original French and American contexts, exposes new layers of meaning and makes them part of her own artistic practice. Huws thereby draws attention to the fact that works of art are co-created by the recipient and creates awareness for the process in which art is enriched with significance. The “research notes” are an intelligent, but equally sensual and visually rich project that gives joy where it is too often missing: in the endless search for meaning.
–
Bethan Huws was born in 1961 in Bangor, Wales. She studied at Middlesex Polytechnic (1981-1985) and at the Royal College of Art (1986-1988) in London. In 2003, she represented Wales at the 50th Venice Biennale. She lives in Berlin and Paris. Huws became internationally known in the early 1990s through a series of subtle architectural interventions into the floor structure of exhibition spaces. Frequently exhibited are her “Word Vitrines”, her small, handmade reed boats, neon and text works, found objects, sculptures, installations and films. Recurring motifs in her work are the memory of her rural Welsh homeland as well as wordplays, ambiguities and complex reference systems. Solo exhibitions by Bethan Huws were presented, among others, at Kunsthalle Bern (1990), Lenbachhaus, Munich (2000), Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2003), Tate Modern (2004) and Tate Britain (2010) as well as Whitechapel Art Gallery in London (2011). The “research notes” were exhibited at Kunsthalle Bern in 2014 and at the Museum of Modern Art Kyoto in 2017. At KUNSTSAELE they are shown in the immediate vicinity of their place of origin: Huws’ studio. It is their first public presentation in Berlin. A detailed essay on the “research notes” can be found here: Hans Rudolf Reust: Ways of Reading – Re-reading Bethan Huws’ “Reading Duchamp”