|
Indepth Arts News:
"Archetypes of Art: From the Realm of Plants and Exotic Cultures"
2004-10-28 until 2004-11-01
ART COLOGNE
Koln, ,
DE Germany
It was a legendary exhibition in the Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin, in 1926.
For the first time the sculptor, photographer and university professor Karl
Blossfeldt exhibited his photos of plants, Urformen der Kunst (Archetypes
of Art), together with tribal art from Africa and Papua New Guinea. The
special exhibition at this years ART COLOGNE on the
ground floor (Stand 22) pays homage to this legendary exhibition. On view
are original photographs from the Ann and Juergen Wilde Foundation for
Photography and Art Research, and tribal objects from the
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, both in Cologne. Blossfeldts enlargements of
plants will be confronted with objects from Africa and Oceania and radiate
the same fascination that entranced the viewers at their first presentation
in Berlin nearly 80 years ago. The special exhibition at this years ART
COLOGNE is being curated by the Cologne gallerist Dierk Dierking,
Aussereuropaeische Kunst Dierking.
This remake of the legendary exhibition is an homage to the publisher and
art dealer Karl Nierendorf, who with his passion for modern art was one of
the most significant art dealers at the beginning of the 20th century, along
with Paul Cassirer and Alfred Flechtheim. The exhibition also honours the
work of Karl Blossfeldt, whose photographs continue to this day to evoke
phenomenal interest and admiration. The artefacts from the
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum stand for the creative force of non-European
cultures. Colognes Museum of Ethnology is also taking this opportunity to
emphasise how limited its current space in the south of Cologne is. As long
as the new building on Neumarkt, in the centre of Cologne, remains
unfinished, only one percent of the collection can be presented - a
collection that encompasses 65,000 objects, 100,000 historical, ethnographic
photographs and a specialist library of national significance.
As one of the most important ethnological museums in Germany and as the only
one of its kind in North-Rhine-Westphalia, it pursues its claim to awaken
understanding and respect for the life and art forms of non-European
cultures on the basis of its valuable collections from Africa, America,
Asia, Oceania and Australia. In its new house with an exhibition space of
4,000 square metres in the centre of the city it hopes to have more space to
present exhibitions and make the museum a lively meeting place.
The Foundation for Photography and Art Research of Ann and Jürgen Wilde was
founded in December 2001 in Cologne. Its purpose is to promote art and
culture as well as science and research for the preservation, care,
expansion and mediation of the archives of Karl Blossfeldt and Albert
Renger-Patzsch and their public accessibility. This is accomplished above
all through exhibitions and publications. In 2003, Ann and Jürgen Wilde
published a new facsimile edition of Karl Blossfeldts Urformen der Kunst
as a portfolio. It had been first published as a book in 1928 by the Wasmuth
Verlag in Berlin. Its editor was Karl Nierendorf.
At the occasion of the special exhibition a lavishly illustrated catalogue
will be published by Ann and Jürgen Wilde and Dierk Dierking in cooperation
with the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum.
Related Links:
| | 
|
