Reiner Ruthenbeck
25 Nov 2014 - 15 Feb 2015
Reiner Ruthenbeck
Installation view, Serpentine Gallery (25 November 2014 – 15 Februrary 2015)
Image © READS 2014
Installation view, Serpentine Gallery (25 November 2014 – 15 Februrary 2015)
Image © READS 2014
REINER RUTHENBECK
25 November 2014 - 15 February 2015
This is the first major survey in the UK of German sculptor and conceptual artist Reiner Ruthenbeck (born 1937, Germany).
Ruthenbeck is an orchestrator of geometric form, noted for his ability to transform space using unconventional materials such as crumpled paper or swathes of fabric. Ruthenbeck’s work subverts the familiar, using minimalist objects and simple everyday materials to explore architecture, iconology, perception, and in later works, sound. In 2006, Ruthenbeck wrote, ‘we are moving towards immaterial art, yet we only approach it in small steps’. From 1968 to 1972 he created several piles and cones made of ash, slag, and paper. Later, he would present utilitarian objects like chairs, tables and a suitcase, stripped of their function and thus exaggerating the objects’ pure shapes. The exhibition will bring together, for the first time in the UK, many of these key moments in the artist’s career and will include sculpture, objects and conceptual works.
Reiner Ruthenbeck in his own words
"In my work I have often presented contrasts, polar elements, tensions, and tried to bring these into a formal unity. I have reduced formal structures as far as possible. The result seems to offer relatively little nourishment to the intellect. I would like thereby to bring the viewer to a contemplative, holistic acceptance of my art." - Reiner Ruthenbeck, 1986
"I try to create something hovering, a balance. I want to maintain tranquillity. Everything can be traced back to polarity and unity – opposites that creation always builds on. Polarity has been a presence in my work almost from the beginning. Two different materials, hard and soft, or polarity based on colour, black and white. This pervades my whole work. We are moving towards immaterial art, yet we only approach it in small steps." - Reiner Ruthenbeck, 2006
Reiner Ruthenbeck (born 1937, Velbert, Germany) has exhibited widely in Europe since the late 1960s. Selected solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Dusseldorf and Wilhelm Lembruck Museum, Duisburg (both 2008); Museum Folkwang, Essen (2004); Goethe- Institut, London (1994); Kunsthalle Baden- Baden (1993); Nationalgalerie / Altes Museum, Berlin (1990); Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1972) and Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf (1967). Together with Joseph Beuys and Jochen Gerz he exhibited in the German Pavilion at the 37th Venice Biennale in 1976. Further selected group exhibitions include Gravity and Grace: The Changing Condition of Sculpture, 1965–1975, Hayward Gallery, London (1993); Skulptur Projekte Munster (1987 and 1997); dOCUMENTA 5, 6, 7, and 9, Kassel (1972–1992) and Harald Szeemann’s seminal exhibition Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form, Kunsthalle Bern (1969). Ruthenbeck has also received a number of awards including Lehmbruck Prize of the City of Duisburg (2006), Fifth Graphics Prize Griffelkunst – Members, Hamburg (2005), Arnold Bode Prize, Kassel (1992), and Art Prize of the City of Krefeld (1973).
25 November 2014 - 15 February 2015
This is the first major survey in the UK of German sculptor and conceptual artist Reiner Ruthenbeck (born 1937, Germany).
Ruthenbeck is an orchestrator of geometric form, noted for his ability to transform space using unconventional materials such as crumpled paper or swathes of fabric. Ruthenbeck’s work subverts the familiar, using minimalist objects and simple everyday materials to explore architecture, iconology, perception, and in later works, sound. In 2006, Ruthenbeck wrote, ‘we are moving towards immaterial art, yet we only approach it in small steps’. From 1968 to 1972 he created several piles and cones made of ash, slag, and paper. Later, he would present utilitarian objects like chairs, tables and a suitcase, stripped of their function and thus exaggerating the objects’ pure shapes. The exhibition will bring together, for the first time in the UK, many of these key moments in the artist’s career and will include sculpture, objects and conceptual works.
Reiner Ruthenbeck in his own words
"In my work I have often presented contrasts, polar elements, tensions, and tried to bring these into a formal unity. I have reduced formal structures as far as possible. The result seems to offer relatively little nourishment to the intellect. I would like thereby to bring the viewer to a contemplative, holistic acceptance of my art." - Reiner Ruthenbeck, 1986
"I try to create something hovering, a balance. I want to maintain tranquillity. Everything can be traced back to polarity and unity – opposites that creation always builds on. Polarity has been a presence in my work almost from the beginning. Two different materials, hard and soft, or polarity based on colour, black and white. This pervades my whole work. We are moving towards immaterial art, yet we only approach it in small steps." - Reiner Ruthenbeck, 2006
Reiner Ruthenbeck (born 1937, Velbert, Germany) has exhibited widely in Europe since the late 1960s. Selected solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Dusseldorf and Wilhelm Lembruck Museum, Duisburg (both 2008); Museum Folkwang, Essen (2004); Goethe- Institut, London (1994); Kunsthalle Baden- Baden (1993); Nationalgalerie / Altes Museum, Berlin (1990); Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1972) and Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf (1967). Together with Joseph Beuys and Jochen Gerz he exhibited in the German Pavilion at the 37th Venice Biennale in 1976. Further selected group exhibitions include Gravity and Grace: The Changing Condition of Sculpture, 1965–1975, Hayward Gallery, London (1993); Skulptur Projekte Munster (1987 and 1997); dOCUMENTA 5, 6, 7, and 9, Kassel (1972–1992) and Harald Szeemann’s seminal exhibition Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form, Kunsthalle Bern (1969). Ruthenbeck has also received a number of awards including Lehmbruck Prize of the City of Duisburg (2006), Fifth Graphics Prize Griffelkunst – Members, Hamburg (2005), Arnold Bode Prize, Kassel (1992), and Art Prize of the City of Krefeld (1973).