ART CITIES:Munich-Schiff Ahoy
“Schiff Ahoy-Contemporary Art from the Brandhorst Collection” takes works of Minimal and Post-Minimal Art, Arte Povera, and Conceptual Art as its point of departure. With 150 works from the Museum Brandhorst Collection on display, the exhibition confirms the continued relevance that art from the ‘60s and early ‘70s holds for contemporary artists working today.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Museum Brandhorst Archive
The period from the ‘60s and early ‘70s, artists such as: Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, James Lee Byars, Andre Cadere, Mario Merz, Sigmar Polke, Ed Ruscha, Niele Toroni, Richard Tuttle, and Lawrence Weiner experimented with new materials, production methods and working environments, but also with a new conception of the body. They called into question the static and final nature of a work, aggressively confronted the role of the viewer, and engaged with alternative artistic formats and channels of distribution. Beyond any parallels in content, what links the current artistic works to their forerunners is an interest in the reinterpretation of historical precursors, a characteristic exemplified in the piece that lends the exhibition its title: “Schiff Ahoy – Tied to Apron Strings” (1989) by Lawrence Weiner. The 13-piece collage series is based on pages taken from the book “Die Siegesfahrt der Bremen” (1940). Written in a heroic and patriotic tone, the book chronicles the daily experiences of a captain, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. A common element in the works is the figure of the viewer. This becomes evident in classic minimalist works such as Carl Andre’s “FeCuND” (1986), on display for the first time since the museum’s opening, and Heimo Zobernig’s untitled mirrored wall-work from 1999 which sets visitors squarely within the picture. The smaller rooms on the lower level explore the wide range of artistic formats and distribution channels of art from the 1960s. Exemplary in this regard are Ed Ruscha’s artist’s books, which are exhibited alongside “Gasoline Stations” (1962), and “Los Angeles Apartments” (1965), the photographic series on which they are based. Martin Kippenberger’s “Pop It Out” (1994) is a portfolio of 31 posters that other artists designed for him, can be described as yet another contribution to the expansion of artistic formats. In the exhibition a special focus is placed on recent acquisitions of the past two years, most of which are presented to the public for the first time. With works by Kerstin Brätsch, Paul Chan, Jacqueline Humphries, Louise Lawler, Seth Price, Josh Smith, R.H. Quaytman, Kelley Walker, and Heimo Zobernig, the exhibition marks the expansion of the Museum’s Collection to include current artistic production.
Info: Curator: Patrizia Dander, Museum Brandhorst, Theresienstraße 35a, Munich, Duration: 9/6/16-23/4/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, www.museum-brandhorst.de
