Hans-Peter Feldmann - Simon Lee Gallery
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
SIMON Lee Gallery is presenting Art Exhibition, its first solo exhibition of the German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann – from November 27, 2008 to January 31, 2009.
Feldmann’s measured and witty method of assembling found objects and imagery from everyday life has extended artistic communication beyond the traditional practice. Since the 1970s, he has played an influential role for many of his peers and has been a prominent figure for a younger generation.
Throughout his work, Feldmann demonstrates a particular awareness and sensitivity to the notion of time. One such example is the Time Series, in which Feldmann takes 36 shots (a roll of film) in quick succession so as to comprehend the passage of time. The resulting series of black and white photos range from traffic at a street corner, a woman cleaning her window, to a boat slowly floating down the river Rhine, all of which identify poetry in the mundane situations of everyday life.
Feldmann meddles with pre-existing imagery and materials from both high and low culture and achieves vivid outcomes through minimal intervention.
Plaster busts copied from Antique models have their hair coloured in bright yellows and browns, while the flesh is painted in an almost medicinal pink. Portrait paintings found in flea markets are given a new lease of life as the artist transforms the sitters’ eyes with a few brushstrokes, producing humorous cross-eyed portraits. By intervening in a kitsch manner with classical busts and traditional portraiture he challenges our aesthetic sensibilities.
Feldmann’s methodical and obsessional attitude to collecting comes into play when he assembles commonplace objects in three large museological vitrines. By elevating these objects he shifts the viewer’s attitude to the details of modern life.
For the forthcoming Art Exhibition, Feldmann has chosen to present a survey of work from the last three decades, comprising sculptures, paintings, collages and photographs.
Feldmann lives and works in Düsseldorf. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in Europe and abroad, most notably at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island, the Landesgalerie Linz, the Arnolfini in Bristol and the Sprengel Museum in Hannover. His work also features in prominent private and public collections.
Opening: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 (6pm to 8pm).
Simon Lee Gallery, 12 Berkeley Street, London, W1J 8DT
Liberals, featuring the work of British artist Toby Ziegler, continues at the Simon Lee Gallery until November 23, 2008.
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