Richard Deacon is a leading figure in British sculpture, renowned for his voluptuous and abstract forms since the 1980s. His extensive influence is reflected in the prominent public commissions of his works across the world. Deacon’s ingenuity lies in his insatiable desire for material, as he deftly transitions between laminated wood, stainless steel, corrugated iron, polycarbonate, marble, clay, vinyl, foam, and leather. As he eloquently puts it, “changing materials from one work to the next is a way of beginning again each time (and thus of finishing what had gone before)”.
Deacon himself identifies as a “fabricator”, highlighting the underlying construction of his completed pieces. Although his works are often cast, modeled, or carved by hand, the logic of their fabrication is laid bare. Sinuous curves may be bound by glue oozing between layers of wood, or screws and rivets may protrude from sheets of steel, exposing their inner workings. This transparency serves to underscore the interactive nature of the artistic process, as a constant dialogue between the artist and his chosen medium transforms the mundane into the metaphorical.
The concept of “fabrication” also conveys a sense of inventiveness, of creating something false rather than true. This clever play on words is evident in Deacon’s titles, which often juxtapose unexpected ideas or imbue new meaning in familiar phrases or cliches. Some noteworthy examples include Let’s not be Stupid (1991), No Stone Unturned (1999), Water Under the Bridge (2008), and Shiver My Timbers (2016).
She won in 2020 the prestigious Johannes Vermeer prijs in the Netherlands.
Rineke Dijkstra, a contemporary Dutch photographer, is renowned for her singular portraits, often presented in a series. Her focus often falls upon specific groups and communities, such as mothers, adolescents, and teenage boys and girls, as well as soldiers, capturing their raw and exposed vulnerabilities. The artist herself has observed that “with young people, everything is much more on the surface—all the emotions. When you get older, you know how to hide things.”
Born June 2, 1959, in Sittard, Netherlands, Dijkstra pursued her studies at the prestigious Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. One of her most well-known series is Beach Portraits (1992–1994), composed of life-sized, vibrant photographs of young teenagers in bathing suits taken on both American and European beaches. The success of the project led to its exhibition in 1997 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of New Photography 13, catapulting Dijkstra into the spotlight and garnering critical acclaim.
Dijkstra’s artistic talents also extend to the medium of video, as exemplified in her filmed portraits of dancing teenagers in The Buzzclub, Liverpool, UK/Mysteryworld, Zaandam, NL (1996–1997). She has had numerous solo exhibitions, including “Rineke Dijkstra: A Retrospective,” displayed at both the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2012. The artist currently resides and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Today, her artworks are held in esteemed collections such as the Tate Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Goetz Collection in Munich, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Emmett Williams, an artist and American poet , was a prominent figure in the Fluxus and concrete poetry movements of the mid-20th century. He is most renowned for his iconic compilation, “Anthology of Concrete Poetry,” featuring works from poets and artists around the globe. Williams described this form of poetry as “direct,” utilizing the raw elements of language: its meaning, visual aspect, and phonetics.
From 1957 to 1959, Williams collaborated closely with Daniel Spoerri and Claus Bremer at the epicenter of dynamic theatre and concrete poetry in Darmstadt. In the early 1960s, he served as the European coordinator for Fluxus and played a crucial role in establishing the Domaine Poetique in Paris.
During his tenure as editor (1966-1970), Williams, along with Dick Higgins, oversaw the publication of several books by artists associated with the Fluxus movement through Something Else Press. Their philosophy, viewing life as a work of art and vice versa, sparked controversy but remained the defining characteristic of Fluxus. Williams expressed this belief, stating, “Fluxus sees life as a musical composition, a continuous process. The true scandal was not in our various actions, but in the philosophy that drove us. The notion that everything can be music defines Fluxus in a unique and convincing manner.”
Emmett Williams, an artist and American poet , was a prominent figure in the Fluxus and concrete poetry movements of the mid-20th century. He is most renowned for his iconic compilation, “Anthology of Concrete Poetry,” featuring works from poets and artists around the globe. Williams described this form of poetry as “direct,” utilizing the raw elements of language: its meaning, visual aspect, and phonetics.
From 1957 to 1959, Williams collaborated closely with Daniel Spoerri and Claus Bremer at the epicenter of dynamic theatre and concrete poetry in Darmstadt. In the early 1960s, he served as the European coordinator for Fluxus and played a crucial role in establishing the Domaine Poetique in Paris.
During his tenure as editor (1966-1970), Williams, along with Dick Higgins, oversaw the publication of several books by artists associated with the Fluxus movement through Something Else Press. Their philosophy, viewing life as a work of art and vice versa, sparked controversy but remained the defining characteristic of Fluxus. Williams expressed this belief, stating, “Fluxus sees life as a musical composition, a continuous process. The true scandal was not in our various actions, but in the philosophy that drove us. The notion that everything can be music defines Fluxus in a unique and convincing manner.”
Emmett Williams, an artist and American poet , was a prominent figure in the Fluxus and concrete poetry movements of the mid-20th century. He is most renowned for his iconic compilation, “Anthology of Concrete Poetry,” featuring works from poets and artists around the globe. Williams described this form of poetry as “direct,” utilizing the raw elements of language: its meaning, visual aspect, and phonetics.
From 1957 to 1959, Williams collaborated closely with Daniel Spoerri and Claus Bremer at the epicenter of dynamic theatre and concrete poetry in Darmstadt. In the early 1960s, he served as the European coordinator for Fluxus and played a crucial role in establishing the Domaine Poetique in Paris.
During his tenure as editor (1966-1970), Williams, along with Dick Higgins, oversaw the publication of several books by artists associated with the Fluxus movement through Something Else Press. Their philosophy, viewing life as a work of art and vice versa, sparked controversy but remained the defining characteristic of Fluxus. Williams expressed this belief, stating, “Fluxus sees life as a musical composition, a continuous process. The true scandal was not in our various actions, but in the philosophy that drove us. The notion that everything can be music defines Fluxus in a unique and convincing manner.”
In addition to sculptures and installations, Thomas Schütte’s oeuvre also encompasses watercolors, models, paintings, and etchings. Schütte has been part of the new generation of German sculptors since the 1980s, distancing himself from minimal art and conceptual art. Along with artists such as Reinhardt Mucha, Hubert Kiecol, and Harald Klingelhöller, he developed a postmodern practice that combines references to art and architectural history with a strong dose of reevaluation of the modernist ideal in sculpture.
Schütte’s interest in art sparked when he visited Documenta V at the age of 18. He studied with Gerhard Richter in Düsseldorf, where he created his first paintings based on photos. Later on, he adopted a “decorative painting style in the spirit of Niele Toroni and Daniel Buren.” In this context, we can see Schütte’s “Garlands” and “Collections” from the late 1970s and early 1980s as brightly colored, abstract motifs acting as minimal pseudo decorations on the wall. The works reflect a strong sense of eclecticism and a non-linear way of thinking and acting, seeds of his later work.
Starting in the early 1980s, Schütte explores a more functional approach in his “Architectural Models.” The models of fictional architectural constructions criticize the “intellectual poverty of much postmodern architecture.” Since the mid-1980s, Schütte has often created watercolors. Although the human figure is often central in them, they vary greatly in style and often have an ironic undertone. Schütte sees them as sketches for his other projects, yet he still stamps and dates them, giving them the status of an archive or collection.
Schütte’s fascination with the human figure is evident in his sculptures, which he utilizes to delve into the depths of human psychology and behavioral patterns. In the late 1980s, his sculptural work evolved to a larger, grander scale. From then on, Schütte’s human figures became so distorted that they strayed far from the traditional concept of figurative sculpture. They depicted various stages of emotional and/or physical depression.
In the 1990s, Schütte continued his exploration of socio-psychological behaviors in humans, expanding his sculptural work in terms of materials, techniques, and forms. Overall, much of Schütte’s work reflects the human psychology of his time – from the nihilistic 1980s to the highly individualized 1990s and beyond – always with a hint of irony or even absurdity. www.ftn-books.com has some of the most important Schutte publications available.
Roger Bissière, a French artist renowned for his unique contribution to the realm of Cubism, also produced a series of stained-glass windows for a cathedral in Metz. He once stated that “the mark of a skilled painter is the ability to bury a color each day.” On September 22, 1886, Bissière was born in Villeréal, France, and eventually settled in Bordeaux in 1901. He pursued formal education at the École des Beaux-Arts, and later relocated to Paris in 1910, where he formed friendships with André Lhote and Georges Braque. In the bustling artistic hub of Paris, his paintings began to showcase a Cubist style, heavily influenced by his admiration for Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Pablo Picasso’s Neoclassical work. However, as the 1950s dawned, Bissière’s artistic vision had transformed into a highly abstract approach, incorporating bold splashes of color to create each piece, rather than utilizing traditional representational forms. He passed away on December 2, 1964, in Marminiac, France, leaving a lasting legacy in the art world. His works can now be found in esteemed collections, such as the Tate Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., among others.
Arnulf Rainer, an Austrian artist, is renowned for pioneering the Art Informel movement, which introduced a lyrical and intuitive form of expression to abstract art. His early work was heavily influenced by Surrealism, and his fascination with dreams and the subconscious adds a mystical quality to his pieces. Rainer first experimented with Overpaintings in 1952, layering brushstrokes over existing artworks or photographs. Continued exploration of this process has been a recurring theme throughout his career. By working in dialogue with the underlying source material, which remains partially visible, the overpaintings play with the concept of creation and destruction, serving as a paradoxical homage to the original.
Rainer’s method involves drawing and painting over his own canvases and, starting in 1953, those of other artists. This results in densely textured abstract works, achieved through a slow and deliberate build-up of brushstrokes. The process itself holds great significance for the artist, resembling a visual embodiment of spiritual consciousness. In his own words: “The act of creation is perhaps more vital than the finished painting; for the gradual participation in the obscuration or immersion of the painting, its gradual return to peace and invisibility […]” can be compared to the contemplative experience of religious life.” This contemplative experience is also imparted onto the viewer, who is left to ponder the enigmatic mystery of what lies beneath.
Stanley Brouwn is renowned as the most prominent representative of conceptual art in the Netherlands. The underlying concept always takes precedence over the formally austere aesthetics of his works. Brouwn began as a self-taught artist and, akin to the artists of the Zero movement, worked in a monochromatic and geometrically abstract style. However, he quickly outgrew the specific aesthetic of Zero. From 1960 onwards, he built a remarkable and consistent body of work. Through it, he explored the interplay between movement and distance. He used his own body as the measure of all things and developed his own system of measurement (the sb-foot, sb-el and sb-step). Using this standard, the artist delved into the tension between subjective experience of distance and its objective register.
Because of his growing importance to Conceptual Art www.ftn-books.com has focussed on Brouwn for some years now and fortunately has still some important publications available.
Joel-Peter Witkin, an American artist, possesses a penchant for crafting photographs that encompass a grotesque and macabre aesthetic. In the vein of renowned photographers Henry Peach Robinson and Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Witkin meticulously constructs scenes that feature cadavers, hermaphrodites, and dwarfs, imbuing them with literary, religious, and art historical allusions. Reflecting on his artistic pursuits, the artist shared, “I have dedicated my life to transforming matter into spirit, with the hope of one day witnessing it all. Gazing upon its form in its entirety, while donning the mask, from the distant realm of death.” He added, “And there, in the everlasting destiny, I shall seek the countenance I possessed before the world was formed.” Born in Brooklyn, NY on September 13, 1939, Witkin obtained his BA from the Cooper Union School of Art and later achieved an MFA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In 2011, a comprehensive publication was released, providing a succinct glimpse into the artist’s methodology and philosophies. Today, his works can be found in prestigious collections such as The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Currently, the artist resides and creates in Albuquerque, NM.
Arman was a French-American artist and sculptor, known for his assemblages. He had a preference for using prefabricated materials. In 1957, he made the decision – following in the footsteps of ‘Vincent’ (van Gogh) – to no longer go by the name of Armand Pierre Fernandez, but simply as Arman.
After studying philosophy and mathematics, he attended the École nationale d’arts décoratifs in Nice in 1946. It was during this time that he met Yves Klein and Claude Pascal. Upon completing his studies, he enrolled as a student at the École du Louvre in Paris. From 1953, he worked as a painter and was interested in abstraction, influenced by the painters Poliakoff and De Staël.
Between 1959 and 1962, Arman developed his recognizable style with two new concepts: accumulation and the poubelle. Accumulation consisted of a collection of ordinary, identical objects encased in polyester or plexiglas. The garbage can was a collection of scattered consumables, which he used to fill galleries such as Yves Klein’s. In October 1960, he was closely involved in the establishment of the artists’ group Nouveau Réalisme, with the likes of Yves Klein, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, and later, César, Niki de Saint Phalle, Christo, and others.
A year later, Arman made his debut in the United States, his second home. He alternated living between New York and Nice, and eventually settled in Vence in 1967.
Working in tandem with her husband, artist Robert Delaunay, Delaunay frequently strived to create a distinct style of painting. Collaboratively, they endeavored to embellish the pavilions at the 1937 International Exposition of Arts and Techniques in Modern Life. In addition to her canvases, Delaunay also designed a series of fabrics, wallpaper, furniture, and clothing. Comparable to her paintings, Sonia’s textiles and modern design pieces are characterized by abstract geometry. In a groundbreaking event, Sonia Delaunay became the first woman to be honored with a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre in 1964, while she still lived. Her esteemed contributions to the arts also granted her the privilege of being appointed as an officer of the French Legion of Honor in 1975.
Artist/ Author: Oliver Boberg
Title : Memorial
Publisher: Oliver Boberg
Measurements: Frame measures 51 x 42 cm. original C print is 35 x 25 cm.
Condition: mint
signed by Oliver Boberg in pen and numbered 14/20 from an edition of 20
