Jochen Kuhn
20 Jan - 10 Mar 2007
JOCHEN KUHN
"Film, Malerei, Zeichnung"
20 th January – 10 th March 2007
Opening: Friday, 19 th January 2007, 6 – 8 pm
The Gallery Peter Kilchmann is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of German artist Jochen Kuhn (*1954) in Switzerland. In the main room of the gallery we are showing the videos Sonntag I (Sunday I, 2005) and Neulich 5 (Recently 5, 2004) as well as a selection of paintings, drawings and photographs. The side room of the gallery hosts the video installations Die Beichte (The Confession, 1990) and a series of his latest pencil drawings (2006).
To date Jochen Kuhn has mainly appeared as a producer and has made a name for himself with his animation films at various festivals. Instead of creating his films at the drawing desk or using computer programmes, he constantly paints and wipes over the canvas and he works with slide projections. Here, he applies the film technique of single images (24 images per second) and shoots with 16 or 35 mm. Almost all the screenplays have been written by Jochen Kuhn himself, and he also acts as a director, cameraman, speaker and composer of the music and sound parts of his film works. Regarding the cut and sound, he cooperates with his friend Olaf Meltzer. Bazon Brock calls Kuhn’s films “Lichteratur“ (aka “Lighterature“) as they are a combination of light and literature. He goes on a representational “painter-journey“ and likes to guide the spectator. He tells us stories of dreamlike narrative structures in short episodes. In the artist’s own words: „The core is fictitious whereas the frame almost always plays within our everyday lives“ . His works focus on peculiar stories, which take an unpredictable course, as they are non-linear and resist the commonly known narrative structures.
As a characteristic element of his film works, a main male figure appears and takes over the part of the first-person narrator or the spectator, who holds an interior monologue. Sonntag I (Sunday I, 2005) shows the protagonist on his Sunday walk through an archetypal deserted urban landscape. Certain parallels can be drawn between these works and Bertold Brecht’s literary figure Herr Keuner because of his anonymity and his cognitive interest. In contrast to this anonymous figure, the artist’s alter-ego plays the main role in Neulich 5 (Recently 5, 2004). In the last part of a series of short film remarking on every day life events, which carry the same title, the male protagonist, who is troubled with moral doubts, visits a brothel for the first time. At the end of the film, the protagonist pays without having had sexual contact with a prostitute. Leaning on a stone, he waits for god’s punishment and when night is falling, he makes his way back home. The thematical focus of the film is the intimate encounter of two people and the analysis of moral standards, taking the example of venal love. However, Kuhn also demonstrates his interest in current events with the film Die Beichte (The Confession, 1990). Here, the Pope and Erich Honecker confess to each other after the fall of the Berlin wall, which marks the end of the German Democratic Republic. The settings in Kuhn’s films are inspired by photographs he has previously taken on one hand and fictitious settings on the other hand. By his collaging of different situations the spectator seems to emerge into an apparently familiar world.
Jochen Kuhn’s drawings are the starting point of his work: they become his screenplays and serve him as a medium of immediate implementation. The Peter Kilchmann Gallery presents for the first time a series of drawings, which have been created by the artist separately from his films and could at some point be integrated as motives into his film works. The small format pencil drawings carry titles such as Nasenfessel (Nose Fetter), Test Frau 2 (Test Woman 2), Der Gläubiger 1 (The Creditor (Searcher)) and Der Handaufleger (Laying on of Hands). These works show figures in surreal situations within sketched landscapes.
Jochen Kuhn studied Fine Arts at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg. Since 1972 he has created films, paintings, screenplays, films, music and photography. The artist has participated at various art festivals such as Oberhausener Kurzfilmtage, KunstFilmBiennale Köln, Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart, etc with his film works and has received several prizes (1986 Bundesfilmpreis für Makubra, 1993 Bundesfilmpreis für Silvester, 2000 Preis der Landeshauptstadt, Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart für Neulich 1). His short films and paintings formed part of the exhibition “Talking Pictures III“ (2006) in the Sammlung Goetz in Munich and can soon be seen within the exhibition “Imagination Becomes Reality“ in the ZKM Karlsruhe / Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (17th February – 1st May 2007).
OVERVIEW – an introduction with Cynthia Krell. She will talk about more generally aspects and themes of Jochen Kuhn’s work including his most recent works. Date: Thursday, 1th February 2006, 7 pm. Location: Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich.
The artist will be present at the opening. For more information, please contact Cynthia Krell via phone +41 44 440 39 31 or write an email to c.krell@peterkilchmann.com
"Film, Malerei, Zeichnung"
20 th January – 10 th March 2007
Opening: Friday, 19 th January 2007, 6 – 8 pm
The Gallery Peter Kilchmann is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of German artist Jochen Kuhn (*1954) in Switzerland. In the main room of the gallery we are showing the videos Sonntag I (Sunday I, 2005) and Neulich 5 (Recently 5, 2004) as well as a selection of paintings, drawings and photographs. The side room of the gallery hosts the video installations Die Beichte (The Confession, 1990) and a series of his latest pencil drawings (2006).
To date Jochen Kuhn has mainly appeared as a producer and has made a name for himself with his animation films at various festivals. Instead of creating his films at the drawing desk or using computer programmes, he constantly paints and wipes over the canvas and he works with slide projections. Here, he applies the film technique of single images (24 images per second) and shoots with 16 or 35 mm. Almost all the screenplays have been written by Jochen Kuhn himself, and he also acts as a director, cameraman, speaker and composer of the music and sound parts of his film works. Regarding the cut and sound, he cooperates with his friend Olaf Meltzer. Bazon Brock calls Kuhn’s films “Lichteratur“ (aka “Lighterature“) as they are a combination of light and literature. He goes on a representational “painter-journey“ and likes to guide the spectator. He tells us stories of dreamlike narrative structures in short episodes. In the artist’s own words: „The core is fictitious whereas the frame almost always plays within our everyday lives“ . His works focus on peculiar stories, which take an unpredictable course, as they are non-linear and resist the commonly known narrative structures.
As a characteristic element of his film works, a main male figure appears and takes over the part of the first-person narrator or the spectator, who holds an interior monologue. Sonntag I (Sunday I, 2005) shows the protagonist on his Sunday walk through an archetypal deserted urban landscape. Certain parallels can be drawn between these works and Bertold Brecht’s literary figure Herr Keuner because of his anonymity and his cognitive interest. In contrast to this anonymous figure, the artist’s alter-ego plays the main role in Neulich 5 (Recently 5, 2004). In the last part of a series of short film remarking on every day life events, which carry the same title, the male protagonist, who is troubled with moral doubts, visits a brothel for the first time. At the end of the film, the protagonist pays without having had sexual contact with a prostitute. Leaning on a stone, he waits for god’s punishment and when night is falling, he makes his way back home. The thematical focus of the film is the intimate encounter of two people and the analysis of moral standards, taking the example of venal love. However, Kuhn also demonstrates his interest in current events with the film Die Beichte (The Confession, 1990). Here, the Pope and Erich Honecker confess to each other after the fall of the Berlin wall, which marks the end of the German Democratic Republic. The settings in Kuhn’s films are inspired by photographs he has previously taken on one hand and fictitious settings on the other hand. By his collaging of different situations the spectator seems to emerge into an apparently familiar world.
Jochen Kuhn’s drawings are the starting point of his work: they become his screenplays and serve him as a medium of immediate implementation. The Peter Kilchmann Gallery presents for the first time a series of drawings, which have been created by the artist separately from his films and could at some point be integrated as motives into his film works. The small format pencil drawings carry titles such as Nasenfessel (Nose Fetter), Test Frau 2 (Test Woman 2), Der Gläubiger 1 (The Creditor (Searcher)) and Der Handaufleger (Laying on of Hands). These works show figures in surreal situations within sketched landscapes.
Jochen Kuhn studied Fine Arts at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg. Since 1972 he has created films, paintings, screenplays, films, music and photography. The artist has participated at various art festivals such as Oberhausener Kurzfilmtage, KunstFilmBiennale Köln, Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart, etc with his film works and has received several prizes (1986 Bundesfilmpreis für Makubra, 1993 Bundesfilmpreis für Silvester, 2000 Preis der Landeshauptstadt, Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart für Neulich 1). His short films and paintings formed part of the exhibition “Talking Pictures III“ (2006) in the Sammlung Goetz in Munich and can soon be seen within the exhibition “Imagination Becomes Reality“ in the ZKM Karlsruhe / Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (17th February – 1st May 2007).
OVERVIEW – an introduction with Cynthia Krell. She will talk about more generally aspects and themes of Jochen Kuhn’s work including his most recent works. Date: Thursday, 1th February 2006, 7 pm. Location: Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich.
The artist will be present at the opening. For more information, please contact Cynthia Krell via phone +41 44 440 39 31 or write an email to c.krell@peterkilchmann.com