Malerei von Joanne Greenbaum, Andreas Schulze, Viola Bittl, Sarah Schoderer,Thomas Werner, Milan Yang, Klaus Merkel ab 30. Mai 2025 18h im H8H.space, Hohenstaufenstrasse 8 HH, 60327 Frankfurt a. Main. Kuriert von Jochem Hendricks
8 times 8, series, systems, stories in mythology & art
University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
March 20–June 8, 2025
In the exhibition ‘8 times 8. Series, systems, stories in mythology & art’ works from the visual and applied arts contain serial narratives that respond self-reflexively to the artist’s oeuvre. The number 8 plays a crucial role in mythology. In Asian art this can be seen, for example, in the 8 trigrams of the I Ching, the 8 Immortals, the 8 Buddhist symbols and the 8 Auspicious symbols. These interrelated elements are often depicted as a group of 8 in the form of a serial narrative, which are supplemented by motifs of pairs, figures or scenes from stories, landscapes, plants, flowers, animals,
ornaments and symbols.
To illustrate this point, three previously undisplayed objects, each consisting of eight sections, were selected from the UMAG collection. These three collection items, created with a range of techniques, demonstrate the diversity and richness of serial narratives in Chinese art and craftsmanship.
The eight-part panel with silk painting (HKU.W.1996.1084 a-h), consisting of three equal sections, includes eight wellknown landscape scenes from Guangzhou. The centre panel contains pairs of animals, while the upper panel depicts
conversations between a group of literati and their students.
A further eight-part object (HKU.W.2012.1919 a-h) with inlays features still-life-like flower arrangements in the lower picture field and encounters with immortals in the centre field. The immortals can be interpreted as a metaphor for the ancestors, while the inscriptions on the reverse contain sayings related to successful partnerships.
The third object is another screen consisting of eight sections (HKU.W.2004.1495 a-h), each with four image and text fields painted or written on marble panels. Scenes of courtly life appear at the centre and the Eight Immortals are also mentioned.
In addition to the serial narrative, these eight-part objects can also be understood as components of superordinate systems. In the microcosm of their diverse details, they refer to the superordinate macrocosm of mythology. This results in a systemic network of relationships that continuously refer to one another.
These traditional works of applied art are juxtaposed by contemporary artists, so as to show that serial and systemic narratives are still used as artistic strategies. Systemic is used here in the sense that individual artworks are part of a larger overall system of interrelated elements.
YAU Wing Fung 邱榮豐 (*1990 in Hong Kong) repeats the same landscape eight times in different versions as a pictorial motif, connecting the individual fields beneath a tree with claw-like branches. The repetition of the motif creates a series, and the variations heighten the viewer’s attention.
Daphne Alexis HO 何居怡 (*1975 in Hong Kong) uses kintsugi, the traditional Japanese repair method in which ceramic fragments are glued together with powdered gold, to bond her black and white landscape photographs. The sequence of eight images, together with the gold of the kintsugi, references the interplay of the elements.
The South Korean artist YU Hee 유희 (*1967 in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea) creates a construction kit of eight ink paintings, offering a variety of compositional possibilities. These paintings can either be freely connected using a lined grid or exist independently.
Adrian FALKNER (*1979 in Basel, Switzerland) visualises the process of destruction for the purpose of constructing his atypical paintings. His structures, composed and sewn together from individual patch-like pieces, consist of earlier paintings that reference the past.
Klaus MERKEL (*1953 in Heidelberg, Germany) also references the past in his ever-evolving work, which thereby becomes the present. In Merkel, this process of self-reflection leads to a continuous quotation of his own work, while Falkner destroys what has already been created and then uses this destruction as the basis for something new.
Arvid BOECKER (*1964 Wuppertal, Germany) takes a different approach. His series is based on a continuous system of reworking, allowing each painting to interact with the others, and forming a cohesive whole despite their individual differences. These latter three artists are concerned with questioning the role that painting plays in their works.
Harald Kraemer
Blind leading the Blind / Editionsangebot aus dem Atelier Klaus Merkel für die Finanzierung einer Monografie mit dem Autor Hans Jürgen Hafner
Klaus Merkel
23.03.23 Blind leading the Blind, original gemalte Version
30 x 24 cm
Ölfarbe auf acrylgrundierter Leinwand
2023
490.- Euro (inklusive Versand)
Diese Edition 23..03.23 # 1 - 38 - ist als Crowdfunding-Modell entwickelt - für die Finanzierung meiner Monografie, die Ende 2024 fertig gestellt sein wird.
Der Erlös aus dem Verkauf dient der Finanzierung des monografischen Buchprojekts
„Klaus Merkel - Malerei und Oeuvre. 1980 - 2023“ des Autors und Ausstellungsmachers Hans-Jürgen Hafner, das einen umfassenden Blick auf die Arbeit von Klaus Merkel von den frühen 1980er-Jahren bis heute liefern wird und auch seine künstlerische Praxis als Maler vor dem Hintergrund der künstlerischen und kunstbetrieblichen Entwicklungen der vergangenen 40 Jahre zur Darstellung bringt.
Bei Bestellung bitte ich um direkte kurze verbildliche Zusage per mail, unbedingt mit der Post/Lieferadresse der Bestellerin, des Bestellers.
Der Name der Besteller*in wird auf Wunsch neben den anderen Geldgeber*innen, im Buch aufgeführt.
Das Bild „23.03.23 Blind leading the Blind“ (mit entsprechender Werknummer) wird nach Zahlung auf unten angeführtes Konto unverzüglich auf dem versicherten Postweg an die Besteller*in professionell verpackt und mit einliegender Rechnung übersandt.
Es werden lediglich 38 limitierte Bilder zum Verkauf zum Spezialpreis á 490.- Euro angeboten und entsprechend der eingehenden Zahlungen nummeriert und verschickt.
Kunstmuseum Reutlingen, Fabian Ginsberg und Ina Dinter / Distanz Verlag
Das Buch dokumentiert und erweitert die Ausstellung „Die Bewertung der Kunst“, die vier künstlerische Werke zusammenbringt, die in je unterschiedlicher Weise die Krise der Repräsentation reflektieren. In ihrem Vergleich entwickelt der Autor eine Geschichtlichkeit der Repräsentationskritik, die gegenüber der zentralen Ausstellung „Pictures“ im Artist‘s Space in New York 1977 Vorläufer und alternative Begriffsbildungen aufzeigt.
Werke von Jack Goldstein, Ketty La Rocca, Josef Kramhöller und Klaus Merkel stehen für verschiedene Stadien zwischen 1970 und 2000, in denen der Zusammenhang zwischen Repräsentation, Bildern und Wirklichkeit sich löst und neu verknüpft wird. Die Werke stammen aus der Kienzle Art Foundation, die sich in Ausstellungen und Publikationen seit Jahren der Neuvermessung und -bewertung kunstgeschichtlicher Theoriebildung verpflichtet fühlt. Fabian Ginsberg ist Künstler und Autor.
