Public & Intention
14 Jun - 26 Jul 2014
PUBLIC & INTENTION
Michael Bauch, Franziska Furter, Pierre Haubensak, Mamiko Otsubo, Gitte Schäfer, wiedemann/mettler, Uwe Wittwer and guests: Richard Hamilton, Claudia & Julia Müller, Dieter Roth
14 June - 26 July 2014
We are very pleased to present a group exhibition with works by gallery artists and guests. The point of departure and kickoff of the exhibition is the print La Scala Milano from 1968 by Richard Hamilton. The photogravure overworked with screenprint dots shows the view from the stage towards the concave curve of the auditorium.
An unusual view the public of the opera never experiences only the actors on stage are familiar with it. The exhibition deals with different forms of interaction between the artwork and the public. Thereby it is not the aim of the show to detect intentions of the artists involved, but rather to unfold the structures and patterns of the work, which cause certain reactions from the public. An important inspiration for this point of view and incitation for the exhibition provided the book Buch Patterns of Intention (1985) by Michael Baxandall. In this book the English art historian expresses himself theoretically and in some key examples on the historical explanations of pictures. "So 'intention' here is referred to pictures rather more than to artists. In particular cases it will be a construct descriptive of a relationship between an artwork and its circumstances. In general intentionality is also a pattern posited in behaviour, and it is used to give circumstantial facts and descriptive concepts a basic structure."
In the first room hang three very different works both by size and technique. Richard Hamilton is represented with the already mentioned print La Scala Milano (1968). For the choice of his subjects the artist relied on chance as well as on system. Often he found the subjects of his works in post cards, which he transformed through slight adjustments into works of art. A particular style of post cards showing the interior of the Scala Milano surprised him for two reasons: firstly because they showed the view of the auditorium with the public in full evening gear; secondly because a retoucher had put on the black-and white-cards coloured spots. Richard Hamilton imitated his work by applying on the photogravure through silkscreen gaudy colour enhancements. The artist didn't distinguish between high- and low culture and devised in the same year as La Scala Milano the White Album and its fold out poster insert for the Beatles. Opposite of the work by Hamilton hangs the elaborated drawing Selfportrait with Hat (1975) by Dieter Roth. Self-questioning in the artwork itself is a central topic in the oeuvre of Dieter Roth. Here he peers cunningly as well as cautiously underneath a huge hat. Between these two works on paper hangs the canvas Large Net (1995) by Pierre Haubensak. On the untreated canvas Pierre Haubensak developed with charcoal marks a grid pattern. In 2011 he came back to this illusionistic grid structure for the composition of a fire wall and therefore set a subversive note in the booming borough 5.
In the main room of the gallery assemblages by Gitte Schäfer welcome the viewer. The artist has a particular gift to compose found material into poetic images evocating associations. Thereby the collection of real objects merges for the viewer into well-balanced nearly abstract painterly compositions. Often Uwe Wittwer deals in his oeuvre with famous paintings from art history. He chooses, varies, changes technique and colour of the paintings of his forerunners – in this case Gainsborough, de Hooch and Ingres. He creates through his appropriative gesture and selection stunning changes of atmosphere. Opposite of the works by Uwe Wittwer hangs a photograph by wiedemann/mettler showing a white unimposing panel in a corner. It is obscure if the white rectangular is a photographed art work or the cover of a radiator. One encounters this play with different levels of reality also in the sculpture white encouragement (2011-12): Is this star a furniture by the company USM or is it a big sculpture? Above the star hangs a concrete relief with round mirrors by Mamiko Otsubo. The pattern suggested by the mirror-grid expands in the imagination of the beholder into an all-embracing space installation. From Claudia & Julia Müller hang four pages of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung drawn with ball-point. For the 225th anniversary of the newspaper the artists had been asked from the editorial staff of the Magazin from the other important Zurich newspaper Tages Anzeiger to contribute an artistical insert for an edition dedicated as an homage to the competitive newspaper. The two artists agreed and transferred with ball-point four front pages of the NZZ from distinctive dates: The first issue from January 12, 1780; the front page covering the proclamation of the Swiss federal constitution from September 12, 1848,; the end of the Second World War May 9, 1945 and the front page of the special issue for the beginning of the Millennium, January 1, 2000. The handwritten reproduction lends the anonymous, rather dry pages of the newspaper a personal touch. Claudia & Julia Müller have deliberately not copied the newspaper pages accurately but have through the scribbles of the ball-point analysed the structure and the different layouts of the pages. In the Magazin of the Tages Anzeiger the drawings were reproduced in a reduced scale. One page was used as the cover for the Magazin, published December 11, 2004.
A painting by Michael Bauch completes the presentation in the main exhibition space. In a beautiful colour combination the painter has pushed two forms towards each other, raising questions of figure and ground in painting. The brushwork is visible and reveals the arm movement of the artist.
In the entrance to the back room of the gallery hangs the stone wall piece Double Double (mini) (2013) by Mamiko Otsubo. This is the first stone wall piece she executed and which she then varied in different formats and with different writings for her solo show Sky Lobby in the gallery in summer 2013. The stone wall piece mimics the inscriptions on sky scrapers in Midtown Manhattan. Double Double is the description of a style of hamburger. A hamburger is to be seen in form of a glassed ceramic opposite of the stone piece. Next to it are three paintings by Mamiko Otsubo and opposite a collage by Franziska Furter which points to her solo exhibition end of August. The exhibition unfolds a broad gamut of artistic possibilities and thoughts. The relationship between the work, its producer and the public is for each case to be re-determined. The single work and the combination of several works in an exhibition allow different points of view and enable different reaction depending on the viewer.
Michael Bauch, *1951 in Wiesbaden, lives and works in Hamburg
Since 1978 many exhibitions in galleries and institutions. Works in the collection of Falckenberg, Phoenix Kulturstiftung and the Kunsthalle Hamburg and important private collection in Europe and America.
Franziska Furter, *1972 Zurich, lives and works in Basel und Berlin
Important Swiss artist, mostly drawing and sculptures. Solo exhibition in important institution: a.o. Palais Tokyo, Paris 2010, The Towner, Eastbourne 2011; important group exhibition in Berlin, South Korea and London
Pierre Haubensak, *1935 in Brünig-Hasliberg, lives and works in Zurich
From the early sixties numerous solo and group exhibitions in institutions and galleries a.o. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the art museums in Bern, Geneva, Winterthur and Zurich
Richard Hamilton, *1922 in London, died 2011 in Oxford
Close friendship with Marcel Duchamp. Famous for his collage Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956). Many exhibitions, a.o. Richard Hamilton, Druckgraphik und Multiples 1939–2002, Kunstmuseum Winterthur 2002 traveled to Yale Center for British Art; Richard Hamilton, Retrospective, Tate Gallery, London and Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Madrid 2014
Claudia & Julia Müller, *1964 and *1965, live and work in Basel and Berlin
Important solo exhibition in institutions in Switzerland and abroad; a.o.Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Zeppelinmuseum, Friedrichshafen, Bonner Kunstverein and Kunstmuseum Thun, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; participation in many group exhibitions a.o. places in Lyon, Miami, Aarau and Barcelona
Mamiko Otsubo, *1974 in Nishinomiya City, Japan, lives and works in Los Angeles
Many gallery exhibitions, a.o. in New York, Zürich, Berlin and Kopenhagen. Institutional group exhibitions a.o. places in the SculptureCenter, New York, in Rønnebaeksholm in Nastved, Danmark
Dieter Roth, *1930 in Hannover, died 1998 in Basel
Very versatile artist, represented Switzerland at the Biennial in Venice 1982. Numerous exhibtions, a.o. Dieter Roth, Richard Hamilton, Collabrations – Relations – Confrontations, Museu Serralves, Porto 2002; Roth Time, A Dieter Roth Retrospective, Schaulager Basel 2003
Gitte Schäfer, *1972 in Stuttgart, lives and works in the Simmental, Switzerland
Many gallery exhibitions in Berlin, Paris, Kopenhagen, Rom and Zurich. Institutional solo exhibitions in the FRAC in Dijon, in the Kunsthaus Langenthal, CH. Participation in important group exhibition a.o. at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco and in the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg; Art Statement at Art Basel
wiedemann/mettler, Pascale Wiedemann, *1966, Daniel Mettler *1965
Many solo exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad; institutional solo exhibitions in the Kunstraum BINZ39, Zurich, and the Haus für Kunst Uri 2014, opening reception: Saturday June 14, 2014, 5pm, duration of the exhibition until August 24, 2014; Group exhibition "Gastspiel – Schweizer Gegenwartskunst im Museum Rietberg", Opening reception: 9. Juli 2014, the show will run until November 9, 2014.
Uwe Wittwer, *1954 in Zurich, lives and works in Zurich
Important Swiss painter, many group and solo exhibition abroad and in Switzerland. Gallery shows, a.o. in Zurich, New York, Berlin and London. Institutional solo exhibitions in the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland, Abbot Hall, Kendal, UK and at the Ludwigforum Aachen
Michael Bauch, Franziska Furter, Pierre Haubensak, Mamiko Otsubo, Gitte Schäfer, wiedemann/mettler, Uwe Wittwer and guests: Richard Hamilton, Claudia & Julia Müller, Dieter Roth
14 June - 26 July 2014
We are very pleased to present a group exhibition with works by gallery artists and guests. The point of departure and kickoff of the exhibition is the print La Scala Milano from 1968 by Richard Hamilton. The photogravure overworked with screenprint dots shows the view from the stage towards the concave curve of the auditorium.
An unusual view the public of the opera never experiences only the actors on stage are familiar with it. The exhibition deals with different forms of interaction between the artwork and the public. Thereby it is not the aim of the show to detect intentions of the artists involved, but rather to unfold the structures and patterns of the work, which cause certain reactions from the public. An important inspiration for this point of view and incitation for the exhibition provided the book Buch Patterns of Intention (1985) by Michael Baxandall. In this book the English art historian expresses himself theoretically and in some key examples on the historical explanations of pictures. "So 'intention' here is referred to pictures rather more than to artists. In particular cases it will be a construct descriptive of a relationship between an artwork and its circumstances. In general intentionality is also a pattern posited in behaviour, and it is used to give circumstantial facts and descriptive concepts a basic structure."
In the first room hang three very different works both by size and technique. Richard Hamilton is represented with the already mentioned print La Scala Milano (1968). For the choice of his subjects the artist relied on chance as well as on system. Often he found the subjects of his works in post cards, which he transformed through slight adjustments into works of art. A particular style of post cards showing the interior of the Scala Milano surprised him for two reasons: firstly because they showed the view of the auditorium with the public in full evening gear; secondly because a retoucher had put on the black-and white-cards coloured spots. Richard Hamilton imitated his work by applying on the photogravure through silkscreen gaudy colour enhancements. The artist didn't distinguish between high- and low culture and devised in the same year as La Scala Milano the White Album and its fold out poster insert for the Beatles. Opposite of the work by Hamilton hangs the elaborated drawing Selfportrait with Hat (1975) by Dieter Roth. Self-questioning in the artwork itself is a central topic in the oeuvre of Dieter Roth. Here he peers cunningly as well as cautiously underneath a huge hat. Between these two works on paper hangs the canvas Large Net (1995) by Pierre Haubensak. On the untreated canvas Pierre Haubensak developed with charcoal marks a grid pattern. In 2011 he came back to this illusionistic grid structure for the composition of a fire wall and therefore set a subversive note in the booming borough 5.
In the main room of the gallery assemblages by Gitte Schäfer welcome the viewer. The artist has a particular gift to compose found material into poetic images evocating associations. Thereby the collection of real objects merges for the viewer into well-balanced nearly abstract painterly compositions. Often Uwe Wittwer deals in his oeuvre with famous paintings from art history. He chooses, varies, changes technique and colour of the paintings of his forerunners – in this case Gainsborough, de Hooch and Ingres. He creates through his appropriative gesture and selection stunning changes of atmosphere. Opposite of the works by Uwe Wittwer hangs a photograph by wiedemann/mettler showing a white unimposing panel in a corner. It is obscure if the white rectangular is a photographed art work or the cover of a radiator. One encounters this play with different levels of reality also in the sculpture white encouragement (2011-12): Is this star a furniture by the company USM or is it a big sculpture? Above the star hangs a concrete relief with round mirrors by Mamiko Otsubo. The pattern suggested by the mirror-grid expands in the imagination of the beholder into an all-embracing space installation. From Claudia & Julia Müller hang four pages of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung drawn with ball-point. For the 225th anniversary of the newspaper the artists had been asked from the editorial staff of the Magazin from the other important Zurich newspaper Tages Anzeiger to contribute an artistical insert for an edition dedicated as an homage to the competitive newspaper. The two artists agreed and transferred with ball-point four front pages of the NZZ from distinctive dates: The first issue from January 12, 1780; the front page covering the proclamation of the Swiss federal constitution from September 12, 1848,; the end of the Second World War May 9, 1945 and the front page of the special issue for the beginning of the Millennium, January 1, 2000. The handwritten reproduction lends the anonymous, rather dry pages of the newspaper a personal touch. Claudia & Julia Müller have deliberately not copied the newspaper pages accurately but have through the scribbles of the ball-point analysed the structure and the different layouts of the pages. In the Magazin of the Tages Anzeiger the drawings were reproduced in a reduced scale. One page was used as the cover for the Magazin, published December 11, 2004.
A painting by Michael Bauch completes the presentation in the main exhibition space. In a beautiful colour combination the painter has pushed two forms towards each other, raising questions of figure and ground in painting. The brushwork is visible and reveals the arm movement of the artist.
In the entrance to the back room of the gallery hangs the stone wall piece Double Double (mini) (2013) by Mamiko Otsubo. This is the first stone wall piece she executed and which she then varied in different formats and with different writings for her solo show Sky Lobby in the gallery in summer 2013. The stone wall piece mimics the inscriptions on sky scrapers in Midtown Manhattan. Double Double is the description of a style of hamburger. A hamburger is to be seen in form of a glassed ceramic opposite of the stone piece. Next to it are three paintings by Mamiko Otsubo and opposite a collage by Franziska Furter which points to her solo exhibition end of August. The exhibition unfolds a broad gamut of artistic possibilities and thoughts. The relationship between the work, its producer and the public is for each case to be re-determined. The single work and the combination of several works in an exhibition allow different points of view and enable different reaction depending on the viewer.
Michael Bauch, *1951 in Wiesbaden, lives and works in Hamburg
Since 1978 many exhibitions in galleries and institutions. Works in the collection of Falckenberg, Phoenix Kulturstiftung and the Kunsthalle Hamburg and important private collection in Europe and America.
Franziska Furter, *1972 Zurich, lives and works in Basel und Berlin
Important Swiss artist, mostly drawing and sculptures. Solo exhibition in important institution: a.o. Palais Tokyo, Paris 2010, The Towner, Eastbourne 2011; important group exhibition in Berlin, South Korea and London
Pierre Haubensak, *1935 in Brünig-Hasliberg, lives and works in Zurich
From the early sixties numerous solo and group exhibitions in institutions and galleries a.o. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the art museums in Bern, Geneva, Winterthur and Zurich
Richard Hamilton, *1922 in London, died 2011 in Oxford
Close friendship with Marcel Duchamp. Famous for his collage Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956). Many exhibitions, a.o. Richard Hamilton, Druckgraphik und Multiples 1939–2002, Kunstmuseum Winterthur 2002 traveled to Yale Center for British Art; Richard Hamilton, Retrospective, Tate Gallery, London and Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Madrid 2014
Claudia & Julia Müller, *1964 and *1965, live and work in Basel and Berlin
Important solo exhibition in institutions in Switzerland and abroad; a.o.Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Zeppelinmuseum, Friedrichshafen, Bonner Kunstverein and Kunstmuseum Thun, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; participation in many group exhibitions a.o. places in Lyon, Miami, Aarau and Barcelona
Mamiko Otsubo, *1974 in Nishinomiya City, Japan, lives and works in Los Angeles
Many gallery exhibitions, a.o. in New York, Zürich, Berlin and Kopenhagen. Institutional group exhibitions a.o. places in the SculptureCenter, New York, in Rønnebaeksholm in Nastved, Danmark
Dieter Roth, *1930 in Hannover, died 1998 in Basel
Very versatile artist, represented Switzerland at the Biennial in Venice 1982. Numerous exhibtions, a.o. Dieter Roth, Richard Hamilton, Collabrations – Relations – Confrontations, Museu Serralves, Porto 2002; Roth Time, A Dieter Roth Retrospective, Schaulager Basel 2003
Gitte Schäfer, *1972 in Stuttgart, lives and works in the Simmental, Switzerland
Many gallery exhibitions in Berlin, Paris, Kopenhagen, Rom and Zurich. Institutional solo exhibitions in the FRAC in Dijon, in the Kunsthaus Langenthal, CH. Participation in important group exhibition a.o. at the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco and in the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg; Art Statement at Art Basel
wiedemann/mettler, Pascale Wiedemann, *1966, Daniel Mettler *1965
Many solo exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad; institutional solo exhibitions in the Kunstraum BINZ39, Zurich, and the Haus für Kunst Uri 2014, opening reception: Saturday June 14, 2014, 5pm, duration of the exhibition until August 24, 2014; Group exhibition "Gastspiel – Schweizer Gegenwartskunst im Museum Rietberg", Opening reception: 9. Juli 2014, the show will run until November 9, 2014.
Uwe Wittwer, *1954 in Zurich, lives and works in Zurich
Important Swiss painter, many group and solo exhibition abroad and in Switzerland. Gallery shows, a.o. in Zurich, New York, Berlin and London. Institutional solo exhibitions in the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland, Abbot Hall, Kendal, UK and at the Ludwigforum Aachen