Theo Ligthart
Theo Ligthart (* 1965 in Drachten ) is a Dutch artist , director , publicist and entrepreneur .
Life
Ligthart studied philosophy and art history at the University of Vienna . He then concentrated on short and experimental films as well as videos as a director. He also worked as a professional cameraman for commercials and music videos. Since then, he has also regularly published scientific and cultural-theoretical books, essays and articles. At the end of the 20th century he increasingly turned to the use of conceptual and installation artistic methods, often video-based. The decisive breakthrough for this development was the Hommage à Hedy Lamarr project (together with Richard Brem) at the Ars Electronica in Linz in 1998 and at the Kunsthalle Wien in 1999 . In 2003 he extended and strengthened this approach with his work Terminator ... in the Kunsthalle Wien and with avantgarde , which was shown in 2004 at the exhibition On the Presentation of Terror: The RAF Exhibition at KW Berlin : The “Concept of Avantgarde, der the art made receptive to the so-called heroism of the deed and thus the link to the RAF is only a stylistic term. This development can no longer be deceived. ”Ligthart treats the art market and its changing laws and shifts in attention in an ironic and subtle way. Since 2008 Ligthart operates - in radicalized continuation of its approach - the project The grain in cooperation with the Prussian spirits manufacturers . It is based on the basic idea of founding a company as an art project, in which the artist takes on the role of the entrepreneur. In this way, the company presents itself as a work of art, which in turn creates a commercial product. The aim is to thematize and question the laws of the art market as well as art's claim to autonomy.
“If art always wants to break conventions and still quickly end up on the shelves of the art market, then it is high time to professionalize the matter. The grain is a brand that undermines art's aspirations for autonomy; a marketing strategy that takes hostage the attention paid to art. The grain - an ultra pure distillate requires a clear decision whether to incorporate it into your collection or yourself. "
In 2011 Ligthart founded another spirits brand with Steinreich and has been organizing the Destille Berlin Craft Spirits Festival in cooperation with Markthalle Neun since 2012 .
Popular culture and economy are still at the center of both artistic and theoretical discussions in Ligthart's work.
He lives and works in Berlin .
Solo exhibitions (selection)
- Remaining stock from Berlin , Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna 2015
- Dellarowe Galleries at Dellarowe Galleries (permanent / changing installation)
- TROST , Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin 2009
- The corn. A social sculpture , Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin 2008
- Deceptual Art II , Flatfile Galleries, Chicago 2008
- SPIELfilm director's cut (an exhibition) , Zoo Palast, Berlin 2004
- Terminator ... Galerie Play, Berlin; Kunsthalle Wien, both 2003
- Hommage à Hedy Lamarr , Kunsthalle Wien 1998–99
Group exhibitions (selection)
- Thomas Hirschhorn / Flamme éternelle , Palais de Tokyo , Paris 2014
- Police the Police , The Young Artists' Biennale 2010, Bucharest 2010
- Fear has big eyes , Werkleitz Festival 2010, Halle (Saale)
- scene missing , Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna 2008
- Videonale 11 , Bonn 2007
- Reserve of Form , Künstlerhaus Vienna 2005
- Introducing terror: The RAF exhibition , Kunst-Werke Berlin and Neue Galerie Graz 2004
- Ars Electronica , Linz 1998
Publications (selection)
- démodé or demoderne in: Johannes M. Hedinger / Torsten Meyer (eds.), What's next. Art after the crisis. A reader. Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3865992000
- Forest walk and educational forest trail , in: Alexander Pschera (ed.), Bunter Staub. Ernst Jünger im Gegenlicht, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3882217254
- papa and papa. Reflections on the Theme Park AVANT-GARDE , in: Thomas Trummer (ed.), Kurt Kren. Vienna 2006, ISBN 978-3854492528
- Terminator ... About the end as the beginning , Vienna 2003, ISBN 978-3851656077
- Hommage à Hedy Lamarr , Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3852661070
- Face / Interface , in: Aesthetics & Communication (94/95), Berlin 1996
Web links
- Theo Ligthart on imdb.com
- Website Theo Ligthart
- The corn
- Wheat brandy 42 - Steinreich
- Theo Ligthart on the website of Galerie Thomas Schulte
- Ars Electronica archive articles on the Hommage à Hedy Lamarr project
- Ars Electronica catalog text on Hommage à Hedy Lamarr
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Biesenbach (Ed.): To the presentation of the terror: The RAF exhibition. 2 volumes. Steidl-Verlag, Göttingen / KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Kunst-Werke Berlin e. V., Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86521-102-X
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 24, 2015 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.
- ↑ Brigitte Werneburg: Failed by the failed , taz of January 29, 2005
- ↑ Holm Friebe: Doppelkorn for investors , Berliner Zeitung of January 3, 2009
- ↑ http://www.destilleberlin.de/
- ↑ https://mixology.eu/drinks/ligtharts-eleven-das-freimeisterkollektiv/
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ligthart, Theo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch artist, director, publicist and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1965 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Drachten |