John
M Armleder, Richard Artschwager, Wolfgang Berkowski, Stephen Bram, Daniel
Buren, Ian Burn, Hanne Darboven, Gene Davis, Hermann Glöckner, Benoit
Gollety, Katharina Grosse, Esther Hiepler, Sol LeWitt, John McLaughlin,
Olivier Mosset, David Novros, Charlotte Posenenske, Gerwald Rockenschaub,
Henryk Stazewski, Katja Strunz, Michael Zahn.
Daimler Contemporary
February 14
- May 18, 2003
new opening
hours:
daily 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The new term "Minimalism"
was coined for the second half of the sixties, and this included a broader
range of artistic media - including sculpture, wall reliefs, painting
and drawing. Our series of "Minimalism and After" exhibitions, which
started in 2002, begins with this extended spectrum and will be continued
the next year with changing thematic emphases.
We are looking
at the seeds of Minimalism before the movement was really under way,
and then at effects that relate to no particular time, and the later
manifestations.
Who were the teachers
and investigators around 1960? Where did artists make key contributions
in the background, often overlooked by the art market? What encounters
took place that have been forgotten today, and what historical parallels
were there? What was the response in Europe? How is Minimalism addressed
in contemporary international art discussions?
Our new acquisitions
by artists from three generations start in time terms with two outsiders
from art events, John McLaughlin (1898-1976. USA) and Hermann Glöckner
(1889-1987, D).
McLaughlin's reductionist painting, which concentrated on black, white
and very few colors, their formal economy and perfection in terms of
paint application, and finally the pictures' emphatic object quality
and visual presence prepared the way for american Minimalism.
Parallel Hermann Glöckner, who was just under eighty, continued to develop
his Faltungen (Folds) in Dresden, in complete isolation from the GDR
art of the day.
His approach is today echoed in Katja Strunz's (b. 1970, D) wall reliefs.
Following
one of the Daimler Art Collection's continuing focal points, the
selection of new acquisitions tries to reflect discussion in contemporary
art. Wolfgang Berkowski (b 1960, D), Stephen Bram (b 1961, AUS), Benoit
Gollety (b 1974, F), Esther Hiepler (b 1966, D), and Michael Zahn (b
1963, USA) all developed quite independent groups of works in the nineties
linking up with various aspects of Minimalism and formulating and fleshing
them out them further.