Revered as a leading contemporary Canadian photographer, Jeff Wall’s work delves into the complexities of images, representation, and memory. His larger-than-life photographs embody the visual style of advertisement, employing backlit transparencies and grandeur in their presentation. Known to recreate everyday moments, fiction, and art history in a “cinematographic” manner, he aptly dubs his work as “near documentary”. With a deep-rooted connection to his personal experiences, Wall explains, “[Near documentary] signifies that my pictures are inspired by my own encounters, and that I strive to capture those moments with utmost precision and accuracy.”
Having been born on September 29, 1946 in Vancouver, Canada, Wall attained his MA from the University of British Columbia in 1970. Dedicating his time to academia in the following decade, he pursued further education under the tutelage of renowned British historian T.J. Clark at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. His background as a Conceptual artist and art historian paved the way for his exploration of diverse subjects, including Hokusai, Édouard Manet, and even novels like The Invisible Man. Garnering immense recognition, a print of his piece Dead Troops Talk (1993) shattered auction records at Christie’s in 2012 and was then the third highest-selling photograph ever.
Presently, his works are housed in the esteemed collections of Tate Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, to name a few. Holding steadfast to his roots, Wall continues to reside and create in his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.
George Hendrik Breitner was born in Rotterdam. From 1876 to 1880, he attended the art academy in The Hague where his exceptional talent was recognized on numerous occasions. From October 1878 to April 1879, he worked as a drawing teacher at the Leiden academy Ars Aemula Naturae. In 1880, he was banned from the Art Academy in The Hague due to misconduct, as he had destroyed the rules of the board.
That same year, he stayed with the garden architect Willem Maris in Loosduinen and became a member of the Pulchri Studio, an important artists’ association in The Hague. Later, he distanced himself from the Hague School and is now widely regarded as an Amsterdam impressionist.
In the period of 1880-1881, he collaborated with Hendrik Mesdag, S. Mesdag-van Houten, Theophile de Bock, and Barend Blommers on the famous Panorama Mesdag. In 1882, he met and worked with Vincent Van Gogh, often sketching together in the poorer neighborhoods of The Hague. Breitner preferred working with models from the working class: laborers, maids, and people from the lower classes. This interest in common people was shared by many artists during that time.
He was associated with the Dutch literary group known as the “Tachtigers” (English translation: “Eighty-ers”). They were proponents of impressionism and naturalism, rejecting romanticism and other painters such as Isaac Israels, Willem Witsen, and poets like Willem Kloos.
Breitner saw himself as “le peintre du peuple”, the painter of the people. He was the quintessential painter of cityscapes: wooden piles in the harbor, demolition works and construction sites in the old center, horse trams on the Dam, or canals in the rain. Amsterdam (1901).
At the spot where one would typically expect a human head, there is instead a skull of an animal or an exotic mask. The attire is equally diverse, ranging from traditional clothing of far-off lands to futuristic uniforms, fur coats, and sharply tailored suits. Cowboy boots, pink pumps, or sandals on their feet and an assortment of objects in hand: spears, guns, a stylish handbag, or a falcon. It’s often impossible for the viewer to discern whether the figure is male or female.
Schleiffert predominantly depicts these figures on a large scale, making them larger than life. Her choice of materials is varied, from chalk to paint and from faux fur to aluminum foil. Schleiffert works with compositions of imagery, using collages as a starting point for her drawings and paintings. Redrawing is important to Schleiffert because, in her own words, it allows her to avoid creating everything from imagination.
Themes of oppression, freedom, power, and gender play a central role in Schleiffert’s body of work. By combining different styles, eras, and locations, her work raises questions about tolerance in life: her potential figures display a longing for what should be possible. Schleiffert says, “My figures are not always content with their lives and dream of an alternative.”
In addition to drawings and paintings, Schleiffert also creates installations and sculptures. She studied at the Academy of Arts and Design in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (1985-1990) and at De Ateliers (1990-1992). In 1999, Schleiffert won the Prix de Rome. Her work has been exhibited at places such as Heden (The Hague), Museum Het Domein (Sittard), and CBK Drenthe (Assen).
Per Kirkeby, a Danish creative, took inspiration from geology and natural surroundings, greatly influencing his paintings and brick sculptures. His devotion to the conceptual understanding of structures led him to work within specific parameters, containing the urgency of mark making. “A structure-less painting holds no significance to me. Structure reflects your level of responsibility towards the work,” he explained. “You can’t simply let it float around in pretty colors. It needs a core.”
Born on September 1, 1938, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Kirkeby pursued a degree in geology from the University of Copenhagen. However, he continued to cultivate his artistic practice, producing paintings, sculptures, films, and prints. In the 1960s, his performance art brought collaborations with Fluxus artists such as Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, and Charlotte Moorman. Tragically, in 2013, Kirkeby suffered a severe brain injury from a fall and was unable to paint before his passing on May 9, 2018, in his hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Today, Kirkeby’s creations are held in esteemed collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark.
As an artist, the late James Lee Byars was known for his unique approach that encompassed performance, sculpture, and installation, delving into themes such as memory, absence, and mystery. In a surprising turn of events, Byars achieved a significant moment in his career in 1958 when he convinced a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, despite showing up unannounced, to allow him to showcase his work in the museum’s stairwell. This event is now recognized as Byars’ first museum exhibition. In 2014, “James Lee Byars: 1/2 an Autobiography” was held at MoMA PS1, featuring a comprehensive collection of the artist’s work. Even as his health deteriorated from cancer, Byars continued to produce impactful pieces, such as his renowned performance work, The Death of James Lee Byars (1994). Alongside his exhibitions, Byars also published books and materials that encompassed his artistic endeavors.
You may be familiar with the phrase “money for old rope.” Perhaps you’ve had the good fortune of selling some of your old belongings at a car boot sale and making a surprisingly profitable sum. I know I have – who could have guessed that there would still be a demand for dusty old VHS tapes? But today, we will delve into the tale of a man who took this concept to a whole new level, selling his own excrement as art and raking in a hefty profit, I might add.
In 1961, an Italian artist by the name of Piero Manzoni jumped on the bandwagon of contemporary abstract and conceptual art by collecting his bowel movements in steel cans. Now, one can may seem absurd, but a collection of movements preserved in multiple cans – well, that can only be the work of a true genius.
The project was aptly titled “Artist’s Shit” and consisted of 90 numbered cans filled with sewage. Each can was ironically labeled in English, German, and French, mimicking the packaging of a food product, with the statement: “Artist’s Shit, contents 30 gr net freshly preserved, produced and tinned in May 1961.”
Modern art enthusiasts and eccentric individuals of the time praised Manzoni for his sociopolitical statement (or dirty protest, some would say). They also admired him for infusing a deeply personal element into his work. One such individual, Alberto Lucia, even exchanged 30 grams of 18-karat gold for one of Manzoni’s limited edition cans. While Manzoni only made around $37 from the sale due to the price of gold at the time, the same amount today would be worth approximately $1,400.
Manzoni’s bizarre idea is said to have originated from a conversation with his father, who owned a cannery and disapproved of his son’s artistic pursuits, telling him, “Your work is shit.” In a strange turn of events, Manzoni seemingly took his father’s criticism as inspiration and set out on his rather unpleasant business venture. One can only hope that he took precautions to ensure his cans were stored far away from his father’s factory or that he thoroughly cleaned any machinery used in the process.
The actual increment of gold’s value within the timeframe of 2000 to 2016 remains a mystery to me, but I am confident that Manzoni’s unconventional project has exceeded its worth.
Amidst skepticism surrounding Manzoni’s work, doubts arise over the contents of his cans, allegedly filled with excrement. Alas, the steel cans prevent the use of X-rays to ascertain their contents. However, one can did burst, revealing only plaster, much to the chagrin of its owner and the relief of the cleaner.
Manzoni’s artistic endeavors also included signed hard-boiled eggs with his unique thumb impression, a collection of inflated balloons containing his breath, and a colossal block of concrete with a meticulously etched 7,200-meter line. As a true Dadaist, Manzoni favored absurd ideas over traditional artistic talent. As he famously declared in reference to his work “Artist’s Shit,” “I sell an idea, an idea in a can.”
Tragically, Manzoni’s untimely death in 1963 at the young age of 29 due to a heart attack. However, his legacy lives on, preserved in 89 steel cans worth $300,000 each, a massive concrete block, and a collection of boiled eggs.
In 2000, the Tate museum in London purchased one of Manzoni’s cans for $30,000 – a reasonable price compared to the record-breaking sale of $300,000 at an auction in Milan in 2016.
Renowned mortal lensman, Greg Gorman, was brought into the world in 1949 in Kansas City, US. Through his expert use of cameras, he is heavily captivated by his subjects. Graduating from a masters program in fine arts in 1972, his focus was on photo-journalism and film art.
Gorman has culminated a collection of the most notable and esteemed individuals of the past four decades. These icons, who have left a mark on the 20th century, will be presented for the first time at the Graz exhibit. Notable figures captured through Gorman’s lens include Johnny Depp (1989), Marlon Brando (1994), Michael Jackson (1987), Muhammed Ali (1994), Sophia Loren (1994), and many others. This includes studies of Martin Scorsese, Elton John (2001), Jeff Bridges (2009), Sharon Stone (2005), Barbara Streisand (1981), and Andy Warhol (1986). Despite their instant media and cult recognizability, these photographs have yet to be showcased as a single exhibit in Europe.
Gorman’s work has been praised in the most esteemed photogenic magazines and prominent commercial publications. While working alongside LA Eyeworks, he has earned numerous prestigious accolades in recognition of his artistic proficiency.
Throughout his illustrious career, Gorman has captured the portraits of almost every notable film star and pop musician, making the Graz exhibition comprehensively comprehensive. Instead of following traditional methods of dramatic miming and gesturing, Gorman focuses on the smaller details, such as the individual’s eyes and personality, in order to capture the true essence of his subjects.
Currently, Greg Gorman resides in Los Angeles and Mendocino, California.
In 1955, at the ripe age of 51, Pinot Gallizio turned his attention to painting after previously immersing himself in archaeology, botany, and studying popular cultures and the phenomenon of nomadism. This particular exhibition showcased a curated selection of his entire body of work, spanning less than a decade. His paintings boast an abstract foundation, executed in a gesture-heavy style that layers thick brushstrokes of oil paint onto the canvas. At times, these clusters of paint coalesce into perplexing symbols, resembling small round eyes or mouths twisted into menacing grins. Many of the pieces feature surreal and ironic titles such as “Death of a Common Traveler” (1955) and “Elliptical Paranoia” (1956).
Gallizio’s bold use of colors and thick, childlike forms were heavily influenced by his collaboration and friendship with Asger Jorn, a prominent member of the CoBrA group. Both men worked in the experimental workshop in Gallizio’s hometown of Alba, where the Italian artist conceptualized and produced his “Industrial Paintings” (1958-59), consisting of canvases over 40 feet in length with heavy impasto and tumultuous colors. Rather than being confined to a frame, each of these canvases could be rolled out in an exhibition space, creating an immersive environment. In fact, some pieces could even be entered as a tunnel, such as “Cavern of the Antimatter” (1958). Gallizio’s search for an alternative to traditional painting and the limitations of the canvas mirrors the works of Lucio Fontana’s “Spatial Environments” (1948-1950) and Yves Klein’s “Architecture of the Air” (1958-1959). As described by Mirella Bandini in a catalogue for Gallizio’s 1974 exhibition in Turin, his art embodied the “ideation of a new culture, in opposition to institutionalized and compartmentalized art.” This movement slowly began to infiltrate the artistic landscape of Turin, aligning with the ideas of the pioneering Arte Povera artists like Mario Merz and Marisa Merz.
www.ftn-books.com has the Gallizio catalog published by the Stedelijk Museum available.
During the early 1960s, the renowned Ad Dekkers (1938-1974) was known for his extensive research on plane, form, and line. Dekkers often began his works with a circle, square, or triangle, connecting his art to pre-war artists such as Piet Mondriaan. Like Mondriaan, Dekkers shared the belief that the most universal concepts could be expressed through the purest visual means. From 1965, he began creating reliefs in editions, often cast in polyester but also in various other materials like wood and aluminum. By painting his reliefs monochromatically and usually in white, Dekkers was able to fully utilize the effect of light on his work. Additionally, he significantly reduced the number of compositional elements and emphasized the distinctive nature of each geometric basic shape through a single systematic intervention.
Dekkers was represented by Riekje Swart, the Amsterdam gallery owner who also worked with international artists such as Lucio Fontana, Sol Lewitt, Agnes Martin, François Morellet, Peter Struycken, and Gerhard von Graevenitz. With the support of Jean Leering, director of the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, his work was also featured in groundbreaking exhibitions such as the 1967 São Paolo Biennale alongside Jan Schoonhoven and Peter Struycken, as well as Documenta 4 in Kassel in 1968, in a gallery space shared with Elsworth Kelly.
In 1965, Fieret devoted himself to photography. Prior to that, he mostly created gouaches and charcoal portraits. Henri van de Waal (1910-1972), professor of Art History at Leiden University, was one of the earliest admirers of Fieret’s photographic work.
Thanks to Van de Waal’s efforts, Leiden University now possesses the largest collection of Fieret’s work in the world and his photography has been brought to the attention of institutions such as the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. In 1971, this museum presented the first major solo exhibition of Fieret’s work.
Fieret was actively involved in photography until around 1980. During those years, he produced an enormous amount of black and white photos. His subjects were everything he encountered in his immediate surroundings: women, himself, animals, children, and objects on the street.
Genuine essence His photos were always quickly taken with a simple 35mm camera, often from an unusual angle, and frequently show blur and a messy composition.
The developing and printing process was hasty, using not particularly pure chemicals, and with little respect for the photographic paper. This is what gives the prints their characteristic yellow spots, tears, and other imperfections.
A large portion of Fieret’s photos are signed with a felt-tip pen and often stamped with one or more stamps. All of this adds to the genuine essence exuded by Fieret’s photographs.
“The Pigeon Man” For years, Gerard Fieret was a noticeable, well-known figure in the city center of The Hague. He was nicknamed “The Pigeon Man” because he would ride around on his bike every day with two buckets of bird feed, stopping at around thirty places to feed his favorite birds.
In recent decades, Fieret’s photographic oeuvre has remained underappreciated, but in recent times, there has been a growing appreciation for his work, evidenced by the popularity of his pieces at auctions in Amsterdam and New York.
www.ftn-books.com has some very special Fieret titles available
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
