Michael Bacht

Michael Bacht (born June 4, 1947 in Remscheid ) is a German object and installation artist .

biography

Bacht attended the Burg-Gymnasium and the Carl-Humann-Gymnasium in Essen, where he was trained from the age of sixteen at the Folkwang School of Design with Jo Pieper in figure drawing and life drawing. After being recognized as a conscientious objector, he studied art history with Günter Bandmann and philosophy with Ernst Bloch and Dieter Jähnig in Tübingen from 1969 to 1971 . The close friendship with the idealism expert Karl Ameriks was also formative during this time.

In 1972 Bacht continued his studies at the University of Heidelberg. There his focus was on European and East Asian art and architecture, and his main academic teachers were Peter Anselm Riedl and Dietrich Seckel. It was during this time that I became acquainted with Fritz Wotruba while he was working on a list of his works. From 1974 to 1979 he studied arts and crafts (state examination) at the University of Mainz.

Bacht has been working as a freelance visual artist in Heidelberg since 1979, with studios in the former Malsch cigar factory (1987–1990) and, after a year of renovation, in the former Catholic village church of Epfenbach .

plant

Bacht's artistic concern is to make dialectical processes between material and artistic design principles visible and tangible, which always unfold in a respectful adaptation to cyclical laws of nature: “The wave”, formulated Hans Gercke, “fascinates him in its polarity of height and depth, of Light and dark, concave and convex movement, uniformity and dynamism ”. Such elementary experiences, the rhythm that is the basis of life, the pulsation of blood, ebb and flow, day and night, seasons, the natural law of inhalation and exhalation are objectified in all of Bacht's groups of works and give them an aesthetic unity.

Early work groups were the embossed prints from 1975 to 1985, followed by the anode pictures from 1985–1990. In the late 1980s and 1990s, major works such as “Shrine for a Stone” with different variations, the series of book objects, circles of the earth and Makimono pictures as well as the first large-format floor installations were created. From 1995 light was added as a design element and from 2000 a series of critical homages to key figures of classical modernism (Mondrian, Malewitsch) as well as the white installations were created. A separate group of works is dedicated to objects and architectural structures for an alternative sepulchral culture.

In parallel to working on all of the groups of works, Bacht developed an encyclopedic cosmos of satirical objects under the group title “No Wonder”.

Solo exhibitions

• 1980 Gallery of the City of Mainz, pictures, objects, graphics
• 1984 Heidelberg workshop gallery , works by M.Bacht and G.Kilger
• 1987 Galerie Friebe, Mannheim, objects and pictures
• 1988 Arterie Gallery, Wiesenbach, works from 1978-1988 (cat.)
• 1990 Galerie Friebe, Mannheim, memory of Makimono (cat.)
• 1990 Kunstverein Rastatt , Im Kreis (cat.)
• 1991 Folkwang Museum, Essen, Metamorphosis (cat.)
• 1991 Landesmuseum Mainz , Michael Bacht (KULTURZEIT ET ZETERA)
• 1992 Hilbur Gallery, Karlsruhe , objects and pictures
• 1993 Galerie Friebe, Mannheim, No wonder, satirical objects
• 1994 Beatrice Wassermann Gallery, Cologne, Sound of Silence , objects and pictures
• 1995 Arterie Gallery, Wiesenbach, 5 light installations
• 1996 Galerie Monika Beck, Homburg, No Wonder, Satirical Objects 1976–1996
• 1996 Galerie Friebe, Mannheim , book objects
• 1996 Heidelberger Kunstverein, installations, objects and pictures (cat.)
• 1999 Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, light installations, objects and pictures (cat.)
• 2001 Museum Ratingen, satirical objects (cat.)
• 2004 Stadtgalerie Mannheim , memories from a glass house and other works
• 2005 Long Night of Museums: It would be nice if someone turned on the lights again 1 Light objects and light installations in HD Semmelsgasse 9
• 2007 Kunstforum Heidelberg, Theatrum Mundi - Jeu des cartes Works by Michael Bacht and Milan Chlumsky
• 2008 Long Night of Museums: It would be nice if someone turned on the lights again 2 7 new light objects and light installations in HD Semmelsgasse 9
• 2018 Art in Breitspiel, Heidelberg, Willibald Kramm Prize
• 2019 Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg, retrospective (cat.)

Participation in exhibitions (selection)

• 1985 Heidelberger Kunstverein, The Tree in Mythology, Art History and Contemporary Art (cat.)
• 1986 Saarbrücken City Gallery, The Tree (cat.)
• 1987 Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen , Aspects of the fragmentary (cat.)
• 1987 Museum of Modern Art, Pasadena, Fragments
• 1988 Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim , 25 years of the Rhein-Neckar Artists' Association (cat.)
• 1988 Kulturhaus Wiesloch, Die Stadt (cat.)
• 1988 Darmstadt Secession, Darmstadt, Dialogue (cat.)
• 1988 Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Sickingen Art Prize Painting (cat.)
• 1989  Hirschberg Sculpture Park (Bacht, Eckerle, Flora, Kausch, Lepold, Pokorny) (cat.)
• 1992 Wilhelm Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen, Coincidence as a Principle - Play World , Method and System in Art of the 20th Century (cat.)
• 1992 Galerie der Junge, Prague (CSFR), art from the Rhine-Neckar area
• 1993 Hilbur Gallery, Karlsruhe, Schwarz-Weiss-Plus, artist of the gallery
• 1994 Karin Friebe Gallery, Mannheim, Blick zurück, artist of the gallery
• 1994 Gallery of the Archaeological Museum, Gdansk (P), art without borders
• 1995 Heidelberg Castle, Kunsthalle Bratislava (Slo ), change of page (cat.)
• 1996 Galerie Grewenig, Heidelberg , Accrochage of the Galerie St. Johann Saarbrücken
• 1999 Heidelberg Castle, Elector Friedrich dreams of Pope Gregor IX , installation
• 2001 Ev. Stadtkirche am Markt, Karlsruhe, church dreams, installation
• 2002 Kunstverein Wilhelmshöhe, Ettlingen, Wolfgang Hartmann Prize
• 2004 Forum for Art Heidelberg, 1889,   installation
• 2008 Heidelberger Kunstverein , We Here (G)
• 2016 Forum for Art Heidelberg, "... in the Art"

Working in public collections

• Employment Office Heidelberg
• Surgical Clinic Heidelberg
• Research Center Karlsruhe
• Primary school Großsachsen
• Head Clinic Heidelberg
• State of Baden-Württemberg
• City Hall of Heidelberg
• State University of Music Heidelberg-Mannheim
• City of Heidelberg
• City of Mannheim
• Kunsthalle Mannheim
• City Collections Evian (F)

bibliography

• Susanne Armbruster, Michael Bacht in the gallery of the city of Mainz . SWF II, April 9, 1980
• Hans Gercke (Ed .), The Tree in Mythology, Art History and Contemporary Art.
• Heidelberger Kunstverein / Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken 1985, pp. 308/309
• Hans Gercke, On the work of Michael Bacht . Catalog, Heidelberg 1986
• Werner Simon Vogler, Michael Bacht in the Karin Friebe Mannheim gallery . SWF II, March 25, 1987
• Regina Birmele , Poetry of the Paradox . Mannheim Morning, April 1, 1987
• Rolf Nägele , First Approach . Catalog, Wiesenbach 1988
• Hans Gercke, visit to Michael Bacht's studio . Passages, 4/1989
• Roland Geiger , an ocean full of possibilities . RNZ, November 10, 1989
• Klaus H. Auler , The new studio of the sculptor Michael Bacht . SDR II, December 23, 1989
• Karoline Hille, creation myth and end-time vision . RNZ, March 29, 1990
• Christel Heybrock , Hidden Energies . Mannheim Morning, April 5, 1990
• Hans Gercke, The principle of the polar . Catalog, Mannheim 1990
• Wolfgang Hartmann, In a circle . Kunstverein Rastatt, Rastatt 1990
• Kirsten Voigt, A Serious View of Man and the Cosmos . BNN, October 8, 1990
• Peter Anselm Riedl , Metamorphosis. Comments on Michael Bacht's art.
• Catalog, Folkwang Museum, Essen 1991
• Rudij Bergmann, Michael Bacht . SDR television III. Program, Kulturzeit et zetera, May 23, 1991
• Gerhard Finckh, metamorphosis. Introduction to the exhibition. Folkwang Museum, Essen 1991
• Bernhard Holeczek / Lida von Mengden (eds.) Chance as a principle. Game world, method and system in 20th century art . Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen 1992, pp. 194 / 195,346
• Milan Chlumsky, The intelligent, happy art . Satirical objects at Friebe. RNZ June 17, 1993
• Roland Heinzmann, Kraichgau Art Scene (I) . The sculptors Bacht and Goertz. Kraichgau yearbook 1993
• Rolf Nägele, darkness: condition of visibility. To Michael Bacht's light and shadow objects . Wiesenbach 1995
• Sven Rech Exhibition  satirical objects by Michael Bacht in the gallery Monika Beck Homburg , Saarländischer Rundfunk SR III, March 25, 1996
• Leonhard Emmerling sensuality and reflexivity . Artist portrait. Meier, 6/96
• Ingo Bartsch, Hans Gercke, plea for slowness .
• Peter Anselm Riedl, Banishing Chaos. Thoughts on Michael Bacht's art.
• Hans Gercke, City of the Dead and Forest of the Dead. Notes on a project by Michael Bacht. Catalog, Heidelberger Kunstverein and Museum am Ostwall Dortmund, Heidelberg 1996
• Milan Chlumsky , Mondrian's Crown of Thorns , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 7, 1999
• Roland Heinzmann, catalog review Michael Bacht, Passagen 3/99
• Tobias Bolsmann, The Creation of Logical Chance , WAZ, May 8, 1999
• Milan Chlumsky, The imperfect world sometimes angry . Heidelberg 1999
• Sabine Scheltwort, That's ridiculous! Catalog, Museum Ratingen, Ratingen 2001
• Milan Chlumsky, Sense, Meaning and Aesthetic Content in Michael Bacht's Book Objects , Catalog, Heidelberg 2001
• Milan Chlumsky,  The Origin of Immateriality , Heidelberg 2003
• Milan Chlumsky, Theatrum mundi - Jeux des cartes, Hd 2007
• Manfred Kästner , Theatrum mundi - Jeux des cartes, introduction to the exhibition, Heidelberg 2007
• Roland Heinzmann, Michael Bacht - Willibald Kramm Prize 2018, kunstraumMETROPOL 2/2018
• Roland Heinzmann, Michael Bacht - Works 1964 to 2019, retrospective in the Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg, kunstraumMETROPOL 3/2019
• Roland Heinzmann, Art on the Green Slope - Rainbow Installation by Michal Bacht, kunstraumMETROPOL 2/2020
• Roland Heinzmann, Michael Bacht - "20.19 +" - Current work by Julia Philippi, kunstraumMETROPOL 3/2020

Web links

• Website

Remarks

1. ↑ cf. Hans Gercke, catalog for the exhibitions “Memory of Makimono” (Galerie Friebe Mannheim 1990) and “Im Kreis” (Kunstverein Rastatt 1990)