From van Gogh to Beuys...
CROSSART: Masterpieces of modern art from ten German and Dutch
museums
10 museums from the Lower Rhine region have initiated an extensive
collaboration. In order to celebrate this synergetic action, they
have asked the curator Jean-Christophe Ammann to create an exhibition
selected from their collections to be presented in Bonn.
The subject of the exhibition is at the same time very general
and specific. It is concerned with art of the Modern era, but
not with the history of the museums involved. Ammann’s metaphor
for this project is a celebration dinner. He created a seating
plan in which the works act as guests. This metaphor underlines
the ambition to stress the active power of each work in its dialogue
with the other selected works. The encounters of the works are
according to their individual characteristics, and not so much
to historical or stylistic criteria.
The first work seen will trigger off a cathartic shock in the
viewer. He is confronted by the power of 3000 watts of blinding
light shot at him by Gilberto Zorio’s “Evviva”,
an installation consisting of 4 javelins and 12 strong lights,
made in 1974. It is impossible to escape from the direct impact
of this piece, which is at once irritating and fascinating. Its
blinding power cleans the visitor’s sense of view.
Jean-Christophe Ammann has selected key works and unfamiliar pieces
by long overlooked artists from the collections of the museums
involved. The visitor will experience surprising constellations
such as the one between an impressive series of early paintings
by van Gogh made during his stay with the peasant people of Flanders
with the “Nature” bronzes by the Italian artist Lucio
Fontana from the end of the Fifties. Other confrontations include
an encounter of three classic paintings by Piet Mondrian from
the 1920s with a “Date painting” by the Japanese conceptual
artist On Kawara, made in 1971, as well as the chance meeting
of Joseph Beuys’ key work from 1976, “Tram Stop”,
with a neon piece by Richard Serra entitled “Outside”
from 1969, the “Great Ghost” from 1997 by Thomas Schütte
and a recent photorealistic portrait of a girl by Franz Gertsch
in massive proportions (Sylvia II, 2001). All these works mark
a place, they insist on creating a sense of presence. The presentation
of this exhibition relies on the energy of the presented works.
It provides discoveries of new relatives and re-discoveries of
old acquaintances.
140 works will be presented in 13 galleries.
An extensive publication will accompany the exhibition, documenting
the presentation as well as providing historical essays on the
development of the art scenes on the Lower Rhine and introductions
to the 10 museums. 392 pages, c. 250 illustrations. Hatje/Cantz
Editions.
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