Friedrich Kuhn - Kunsthaus Zürich
The Kunsthaus in Zürich is holding a Friedrich Kuhn retrospective until 1st March. All the following images are supplied courtesy of Kunsthaus Zurich.
Kuhn (1926-72) was unknown to me. I discovered an artist who was a central fixture in the culture of 60's and 70's art in Switzerland and Zurich in particular. You can also see the influences of the contemporary international pop-art movement.
Another recurring theme is the incorporation of furniture like motifs.
His father was a cabinetmaker I think. A child of his time he lived and died the artists life without ever leaving the region, physically or artistically. This gives his work some resonance and truthfulness that it might not have if he had become an internationalist.
This rather good photo was taken by his friend the Swiss artist HR Giger (of Alien "fame") shortly before his death from alcoholism in 1972 at the age of 46.
The media and techniques are varied. He seems just to have used whatever seemed appropriate. A lot of collage with contemporary media and advertising references, but also some nicely crafted drawings
Some of the large direct colourful paintings on show make an immediate graphic impact when you visit the show, but I didn't make much sense of his work until I read a bit more about him, and the context of his art. Some art speaks entirely for itself, and requires no context. Other art speaks with different voices depending on whether you engage with the context and whether you understand and interpret the context the same way as someone else might for example. Sometimes the context is there as an invisible factor, sometimes it is more direct as with Kuhn. A lot of his work makes references to his own life and what is going on around him.
This is much better explained in the handout that goes with the exhibition
I DO pay attention to what you say.
I followed the links and had a bit of a squiz at Fred.
I really love the photo you posted of him and the other one with his palm tree in the background.
I also love the sculpture of the man with the palm hand and Ohne Titel.
And...Brautpaar (what does that mean) reminds me of an Australian artist - Charles Blackman - do you know him?
Strangley enough, he was born around the same time as Kuhn and was also an alchy - but he's still alive!
Does the Kunsthaus have little palm trees in the style of Kuhn?
If you could get one for me that would be BEYOND cool (as long as they don't cost a bomb!).
Gotta go and have a squiz at Francis Bacon now.
You can see a story the ABC did about Charles Blackman here, if you are interested:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2365123.h...
Tu sais bien qu'on peut avoir une attitude "pragmatique" juste le temps de cadrer à l'instinct et d'appuyer sur le petit bouton, c'est autre chose de jardiner, enlever les mauvaises herbes ou de se laver longuement dans un hammam par exemple. Avoir un tabouret alors est très intelligent.
:)
Ta remarque / le filet du golf qui est troué et le raccourci possible : mais oui ! En réalité le filet est juste là pour protéger les vitres et les têtes des riverains des balles de golf qui s'éagarent, ce n'est guère décoratif, c'est ainsi.
On peut "couper" par le golf et cela m'arrive. C'est agréable sauf quand l'herbe est trop humide.
Dans le premier cas cela me fait penser que les artistes comme Picasso par exemple sont très capables de faire oeuvre figurative, mais ils ont fait le choix d'un autre mode d'expression dans lequel ils progressent. L'art actuel ne doit pas être l'art d'autrefois mais il ne faut pas renier autrefois, mais avancer.
En musique : Mozart a été utile, cependant il ne faut plus écrire du Mozart.
Lorsque je regarde l'oeuvre en couleurs, je l'imagine très bien en N&B. Ainsi qu'est l'oeuvre du bas. Pourquoi ? Parcequ'on dirait un travail de gravure, il y a un beau travail de remplissage avec des graphismes différents. Et c'est cela le N&B, ce en quoi il est difficile : arriver à s'exprimer graphiquement.
Bonne fin de journée à toi !
B+W - my thought is that reality can be seen in B+W. It depends on what you see. A lot of people say that we see in colour therefore we should take photos in colour. However latest advances in neuroscience show that we do not always see immediately in colour, sometimes shape, mass, proximity etc are processed first. And in any case we can never tell what someone else sees, so how do we know that a two dimensional colour photo is universal?
Jane Austen n'a pas fini son dernier roman car elle est morte jeune, il a été fini "à la manière de Jane Austen". C'est le seul roman d'elle que je n'ai pas réussi à terminer de lire.
Une oeuvre d'art n'est aboutie que lorsqu'elle reflète son auteur, son parcours, ses recherches. Sinon un robot peut écrire une 10ème symphonie.