Robert Gober
Robert Gober (born September 12, 1954 in Wallingford , Connecticut ) is an American artist of Pop Art and Minimalism .
life and work
Gober studied art and literature at Middlebury College in Vermont from 1972 to 1976 . 1974/75 he spent a year at the Tyler School of Art in Rome . At first he worked as a painter , from 1983 he turned to object art . He had his first own exhibition in New York in 1984 . He has lived in Manhattan since 1976 . In 2012 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 2016 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
For his works, Gober often uses objects from everyday life that he has alienated. For example, he enlarges a box of paper towels in his tissue box (1994/95) so that it resembles a coffin and attaches a sewer pipe to it. In doing so, he makes clear the exaggerated importance that is attached to this object in everyday life, and addresses the culture of consumption and throwing away.
A frequently recurring motif are sinks without a tap or drain. They suggest to the viewer that they are fulfilling a certain purpose, but are designed to be unusable. This calls into question the familiar rituals of daily life.
In his installation Hanging Man / Sleeping Man (1989) he uses a wallpaper on which images of a sleeping white man and a hanging black man can be seen side by side in endless repetition. At first glance into the room an “ideal world”, on closer inspection a clear indication of the great contrasts that exist within society.
Exhibitions
- 1990: Kunsthalle Bern ; Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum , Rotterdam
- 1991: Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume , Paris; Museo Reina Sofía , Madrid
- 1992: Documenta IX in Kassel ; Dia Center for the Arts New York
- 1993: Serpentine Gallery , London; Tate Gallery , Liverpool
- 1994: Museum of Modern Art , Frankfurt am Main
- 1995: Museum of Contemporary Art , Basel
- 1997: Museum of Contemporary Art , Los Angeles
- 1999: Walker Art Center , Minneapolis; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- 2001: 49th Venice Biennale
- 2002: Lucerne Art Museum
- 2007: Pinakothek der Moderne Munich American art of the 90s ; Schaulager , Münchenstein near Basel
- 2013: Kunstmuseum Basel Contemporary
literature
- Alexander Braun: Robert Gober, works from 1978 to today . Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nuremberg 2003. ISBN 3-928342-77-0 .
- Jean-Christophe Ammann among others: Katharina Fritsch - Robert Gober. Community catalog , Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt am Main 1999
- Paul Schimmel (Ed.): Robert Gober . Scalo Verlag, 2002 (English) ISBN 978-3-931141-72-1 .
- Theodora Vischer: Robert Gober , Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel 1995, ISBN 3-7204-0087-5 .
- Theodora Vischer: Robert Gober. Sculpture and Installation 1976 - 2007 , Schaulager and Steidl Verlag, Göttingen 2007 (German) ISBN 978-3-9522967-4-5 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Robert Gober in the catalog of the German National Library
- Robert Gober retrospective at Schaulager Basel (video)
- Schaulager website
Individual evidence
- ^ Grove Art Online
- ↑ Academy Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 14, 2019 .
- ^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences : Newly Elected Fellows. In: amacad.org. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gober, Robert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 12, 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wallingford, Connecticut |