John Armleder, About Nothing.
Works on Paper 1962-2007
September 9 - December 17, 2006
Exhibition Walkthrough with John Armleder and Claudia Gould, ICA Director:
Friday, September 8, 5-6pm, ICA Members Only, join on-site
Opening Reception:
Friday, September 8, 6-8pm
About Nothing: As Usual
John Armleder and Christian Marclay
December 1, 2006
Above: Excerpts from a series of Fluxus performances presented by John Armleder and Christian Marclay. Artists Armleder and Marclay performed the seasonal concert in ICA's first floor gallery installation of "John M. Armleder. About Nothing. Works on Paper 1962-2007." Photos: John Barone. A Spiegel Fund event.
An installation of hundreds of drawings—hung wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling—this exhibition presents an expansive and experimental view of drawing itself. Selected from private collections and from the artist's studio are works in pen and ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil, and collage on paper, as well as original books and a special edition of wallpaper created especially for the exhibition. Installed by the artist at ICA, this exhibition exists as a work in its own right—temporary and site specific.
John Armleder (b. 1948, Geneva, Switzerland, lives Geneva) is a performance artist, sculptor, and painter, whose multi-faceted activities are connected by drawing. Affiliated with Fluxus in the late 1960s and 70s, the value of ephemerality and notion that art is the conduction of creative energy are imperative to his work. During the 1980s, his "furniture sculpture" was highly visible within the context of "New Geometry" or "Neo Geo." John Armleder is widely known and respected as the co-founder of the Group Ecart, which has been endorsing the work of artists (Christian Marclay and Karen Kilminik among them) since the 1970s through its publications, exhibitions and representation at art fairs.
This is the first major exhibition of John Armleder's work in the United States. A highly influential, established figure within the international community, Armleder's work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe. Although he is partially based in New York, his art and reputation are under-recognized in America.
This exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Zürich, which
presented a survey of the artist's drawings in fall 2004. The installation has
been modified by Kunsthalle curator Beatrix Ruf in association with the artist and
ICA Director Claudia Gould for its presentation at ICA. The exhibition will be
accompanied by an English edition of the Kunstall Zürich catalog with essays
by John Armleder, Parker Williams, Beatrix Ruf, Christoph Cherix and
acknowledements by Claudia Gould ($10).
ICA acknowledges the generous support of Martin R. Lautman. We are also grateful for funding from: Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland; Galleria Massimo De Carlo; Galerie Andrea Caratsch; Donald Taglialatella and World House Editions, Middlebury, Connecticut; and Edition Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Mehdi Chouakri and Vero Munro. Additional support has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Dietrich Foundation, Inc., the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA, and the University of Pennsylvania. ICA is grateful for in-kind promotional support from the Consulate General of Switzerland, New York, the Honorary Consul of Switzerland, Philadelphia, and Swiss Roots. We are also grateful for the in-kind support of Loews Philadelphia Hotel. (Information complete as of 7/21/06.)
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Images:
Top: "John M Armleder, About Nothing. Works on Paper 1962-2007",
Kunsthalle Zürich, November 13, 2004-January 9, 2005.
Installation view. Photo: A. Berger...
Bottom: John Armleder, Untitled (31.73), 1973.
Collage on paper.
Installation views at ICA. Photos by Aaron Igler.
