Paweł Althamer

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Paweł Althamer, 2012

Paweł Althamer (born May 12, 1967 in Warsaw ) is a Polish artist whose works belong to the genres of sculpture, performance, video art and installation . The subject of his work is the human body, the decay of which can be felt through the choice of materials. Today he lives in Warsaw, where he has been teaching ceramic classes in a center for people with multiple sclerosis since 1993. His works achieved canonical status in three-dimensional art since the early 1990s. They are still part of important exhibitions and publications today.

Sculpture as a self-portrait

Althamer's studies at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts from 1988-1993 brought him a degree in sculpture. In his thesis, he created himself in the mimetically precise self-portrait Paweł Althamer , as a naked human figure , except for glasses, standing on a thin plinth made of parquet flooring, which is similar to that of many gallery and exhibition floors. It was probably supposed to replace his presence since he was not present at the presentation, as usual. There was a video in the room that shows Althamer leaving the academy for the forest, where he is naked in nature.

The work Self-Portrait and Portrait of the Artist's Wife (178 × 60 × 60 cm), which also shows naked standing figures on a wooden plinth, dates from 2002. Various organic materials were placed on a metal frame: grass, plant fibers, animal entrails, mother-of-pearl and hair. The surface is made up of different materials with different textures, so that the "skin" of the figures has different structures, but the color consists of similar red and yellow-brown earth tones. The male figure holds a camcorder as if she were filming something on the floor, the female figure also lowers her head and looks to the ground. Everyday objects such as a tea glass, camera, glasses and cell phone are included with the naked figures.

Nature and public space

Sciezka (German path ) was created in 2007 as part of the Münster Sculpture Projects . At the Aasee, Althamer created a cross-country trail from the outskirts into nature. At the end of the path, the walker finds himself after a few kilometers in front of a barley field. The idea comes from the behavior of Polish citizens on public roads that Althamer observed in his home country. With his work he wants to encourage people to reflect on the meaning and logic of such prescribed paths.

Real-time movies

First at the Manifesta in Ljubljana in 2000, Althamer instructed paid extras to simulate everyday actions in public space ( Real Time Movies is the name of the principle). At a reading in Warsaw in 2001, he invited the audience to take a stroll, which unsuspectingly led them past such “real-time film scenes”. The walkers then received street maps in which the scenes were drawn. In Pittsburgh in 2004 he had Peter Fonda, the first prominent American actor, participate in such a real-time film. It was followed by Jude Law , who played a man who buys fish in London in 2007 .

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Art projects

  • 2014: Children's Kingdom. Paweł Althamer and friends invite you. , Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen.

Group exhibitions

Trivia

The spring project , in which Althamer lets the Kasseler Kunsthalle children do whatever they want with the exhibition spaces, is available as a video on YouTube.

Awards

Literature selection

  • Sandra Brutscher: Pawel Althamer. , in: Georg-Kolbe-Museum (ed.): Vanitas - Eternal is nothing. Exhibition catalog, Berlin, 2014, p. 42.
  • Michael Krajewski: Museum of our Desires - Museum Ludwig Cologne , Bonn 2001.
  • Peter Pakesch: Kunsthalle Basel, Basel 1997
  • Andrzej Przywara: A Director of Reality , 1997.
  • Andrzej Przywara: In freedom - finally. Polish art after 1989 , 1997.
  • Adam Szymczyk: The annotated Althamer , 2002.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sandra Brutscher: Pawel Althamer. , in: Georg-Kolbe-Museum (ed.): Vanitas - Eternal is nothing. Exhibition catalog, Berlin, 2014, p. 42
  2. ↑ a b Profiles - Visual Art ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.culture.pl, accessed on October 12, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.culture.pl
  3. ^ Cream 3. Contemporary Art in Culture - 10 Curators, 100 Contemporary Artists, 10 Source Artists; New York 2003, pp. 36-39
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lwl.org
  5. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition , accessed on August 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition , accessed on July 4, 2014.
  7. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition , accessed on July 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Message from the museum on the project ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 4, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ludwigforum.de
  9. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition ( Memento of August 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 4, 2014.
  10. ^ Announcement on the exhibition ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 28, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.georg-kolbe-museum.de
  11. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition , accessed on May 23, 2016
  12. ^ Kairos Prize for Polish artist Pawel Althamer in: Westfälische Nachrichten of February 24, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Althamer, Paweł
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish artist
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw