Thom Barth

Thom Barth: pieces

Thom Barth (* 1951 in Friedrichshafen ) is a German conceptual artist .

biography

Thom Barth studied from 1972 to 1974 at the State University of Fine Arts in Frankfurt am Main and from 1974 to 1981 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna .

From 1995 to 1996, Barth was a visiting professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe . He also lectured at the University of Design in the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe in 1997 and at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen in 2009 and 2010 .

Today Barth lives and works in Tettnang on Lake Constance.

plant

Barth works in the media of painting , graphics and installation . He used transparent, printable mounting foils for his early installation work.

In 1987 Barth presented the work Gefußter Tisch, a commercially available but visibly used kitchen table on which a human brain is weighed against a stone in a fragile construction at the Schedle & Arpagaus gallery in Zurich . In the same year, Barth transferred a complete reproduction of the Hercules hall, richly decorated with baroque frescoes and paintings, to mounting foils for the Liechtenstein Palace of the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. Barth created such oversized cubes in other installations.

In the installation from 1991 for the exhibition Installation, Pictures, Drawings at the Löhrl Gallery in Mönchengladbach, Barth confronted two diametrically opposed cubes. Barth continued to print his foils only in grayscale, but for the first time designed a completely transparent cube, which consisted of only unprinted foils. For the second cube, Barth used his work with the human brain.

Also in 1991, Barth spanned the exhibition space of the Salzburger Kunstverein with Blackbox - Whitebox , which is surrounded by a corridor on the whole side, larger than life with foil tapes.

In 1992 Barth developed the work with such foil walls in the form of foils hanging freely from the ceiling. He often created an installation structure that provided foils arranged parallel to one another and thus imitated a corridor situation. Barth u. a. for the New Aachen Art Association , the Goethe Institute in Brussels and the Kunstverein Konstanz .

As part of an exhibition tour from 1991 to 1992, works by Barth were on view at the Ludwig Forum Aachen , the Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of South Florida in Tampa, the Jacksonville Art Museum and the Samuel P. Harn Museum in Gainesville.

The exhibition Im Heimatring , organized jointly by the art associations Freiburg and Göttingen in 1993, was devoted exclusively to the wall pieces Barth referred to as flat goods, which have been created as a comprehensive group of works alongside the installation works since the end of the 1980s.

In 1994, Barth exhibited in the EIGEN + ART gallery in Berlin , which today is one of the most successful international galleries in Germany on the art market.

In 1995, Barth designed the set for a production by Jean Paul Sartre's Closed Society of the Theater for Vorarlberg in Bregenz.

In 2000, the Kunstverein and the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen jointly organized a retrospective that represented Barth's diverse work in the 1990s. With several hundred works, the exhibition gave a three-dimensional impression of the diversity in which Barth's ever new exploration of the process of copying and his preferred material, the mounting foil, culminates.

As a scholarship holder of the Kunstfonds Bonn, Barth also took part in the Kunstverein Düsseldorf's exhibition Kabinett der Drawings in 2000 and presented ten graphic works there.

On the occasion of Documenta11 in 2002, Barth installed several connected cubes covered with magenta-colored foils in and on the Martinskirche in Kassel. With the installation Quader OTT , Barth designed another magenta-colored cube for a church building for the 4th Triennial of Contemporary Art Oberschwaben in 2008. Here, Barth had a 3.5 × 3.5 × 8.5 meter cube hang down from the ceiling of the baroque sacred building in the Schlosskirche Friedrichshafen.

Barth showed a connection between painting and installation that appeared for the first time in his work with the exhibition FETTEFlecken in the Kunstraum Kreuzlingen 2005. Here, Barth almost completely hung one of the walls of the exhibition space with a large number of mirror panels and integrated several sculptural-painterly works in this format , Reason and material differed.

In 2007, Barth presented a total of 878 cubes, each 10 × 10 × 23–26 cm in size, in an exhibition at the Liechtenstein Art Museum , each of which carried a motif from a cultural site that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the meantime, Barth has completed this work: 1,050 standard-sized cubes of milk cartons represent all the places in the world that have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

For the new building of the Center for Psychiatry in Friedrichshafen, Barth designed the three-part work Bowl, Latten and Vitrinen in 2012 , which Barth conceived in relation to the architecture and function of the building, as well as the work also deals with psychiatry as a social place. Part of the work is continuously designed and developed by the clinic patients in a participatory process.

Publications

• 1984: THOM BARTH . On the occasion of the exhibition in the Städtisches Bodensee-Museum, Friedrichshafen. With contributions by Lutz Tittel and Thom Barth. Tettnang: Lorenz Senn.
• 1987: Kubus 3-87 copy of the marble hall. On the occasion of the exhibition in the Liechtenstein Palace of the Museum Modern Art, Vienna. With a contribution by Dieter Ronte. Munich: Paul Renner.
• 1987: Kubus 5-87 of nature and its admirers. On the occasion of the exhibition in the gallery Schedle & Arpagaus, Zurich. With contributions by Hermann Kinder and Christof Schmitz. Zurich: Agency for contemporary art.
• 1991: empty pieces. On the occasion of the exhibition in the Impulse-Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach.
• 1991: Whitebox - Blackbox. On the occasion of the exhibition at the Salzburger Kunstverein. With a contribution by Martin Hentschel.
• 1991: Kubus 13-91 cold frame II. On the occasion of the exhibition in the Singen Art Museum.
• 1992: Aus den Netzen / Out of web. On the occasion of the exhibition at the Kunstverein Konstanz. With contributions by Martin Henschel. Ostfildern: Edition Cantz. ISBN 3-89322-522-6 .
• 1993: I m Heimatring, wall works 1988-93. On the occasion of the exhibition in the art associations Freiburg and Göttingen. With contributions by Stephan Berg and Gerhard Mack. Ostfildern: Edition Cantz. ISBN 3-89322-577-3 .
• 1996: The seventh supplier of hiking trails. In: DIE GABE, a collection. Olaf Nicolai and Thom Barth.
• 1997: The big thing, the work and the closet. On the occasion of the exhibition at the Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart. With contributions by Martin Hentschel and Boris Groys. Ostfildern: Edition Tertium. ISBN 3-930717-42-5 .
• 1999: Levità Infinita. On the occasion of the exhibition in Studio La Citta, Verona.
• 2000: World out of position. On the occasion of the exhibition in the Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen. With contributions by Dirk Blübaum, Andrea Hofmann, Florian Rötzer and Johannes Meinhardt. Friedrichshafen: Robert Gessler. ISBN 3-86136-047-0 .
• 2000: Thom Barth. Edition 50 of the artist - Critical Lexicon of Contemporary Art. With a contribution by Gerhard Mack.
• 2013: bowl, slats and showcase. On the occasion of the Kunst am Bau project for the Center for Psychiatry, Friedrichshafen. With contributions by Friedemann Malsch, Herbert Köhler, Frank-Thorsten Moll and Thom Barth.

Exhibitions (selection)

Solo exhibitions

1987: Kubus 3-87 copy of the marble hall. Museum of Modern Art - Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna (cat.)

• Cube 5-87 Of nature and its admirers. Schedle & Arpagaus Gallery, Zurich (cat.)

1988: Kubus 6-88 copy instead. Gallery Bernd Lutze, Friedrichshafen

1990: Kubus 11-90 cold frame. Stadtpark Gallery, Krems

1991: empty pieces. Impulse- Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach (cat.)

• Cube 13-91 Cold Frame II. Art Museum Singen / Umspannwerk, (cat.)
• White box black box. Salzburg Art Association (Kat)

1992: Kubus 16-92 Outside, Rein Horch. Art space Wuppertal

• Hiking trails. New Aachen Art Association
• far-sight-far, Goethe-Institut, Brussels (cat.)
• From the networks. Kunstverein Konstanz (cat.)

1993: In Heimatrin g. Kunstverein Freiburg, Kunstverein Göttingen (cat.)

1994: The circle does not come full. Paszti-Bott Gallery, Cologne

1995: Set design for Closed Society (JPSartre). Theater for Vorarlberg, Bregenz

• far-sight-far II. Mueller-Roth Gallery, Stuttgart

1997: CLONES + free radicals. KunstMitte, Berlin / Impulse-Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach

• The big thing, the work and the closet. Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart (cat.)

1998: Kubus 19-98 RED LOOM. Lisi Hämmerle Gallery, Bregenz

1999: AWODADA - Vol. 0. Mueller-Roth Gallery, Stuttgart

• Thom Barth. Studio la Citta, Verona (cat.)

2000: THOM BARTH senso titolo. Chiesa di San Paolo, Modena

• World out of position. Zeppelin Museum and Art Association Friedrichshafen (cat.)

2001: Galerie De Gryse, Tielt

2002: Galerie Ryser & Naef, Stein am Rhein

2003: The UNESCO project. Forum Art, Heidelberg

2005: BOLD spots. Kunstraum Kreuzlingen

2008: Le Nest. Katharinenhof Museum, Kranenburg

2010: EDUCATION CAMPTHOMBARTH. In cooperation with the Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen.

2012: Thom Barth Project KfP. Gallery Bernd Lutze, Friedrichshafen

2013/14: GANG from Lalibela to Aleppo. Art Space Academy, Weingarten

2015: Thom Barth, 1000 years of black square. rittergallery, Klagenfurt

Group exhibitions

1985: 4, Biennale of graphics. Baden-Baden (cat.)

1989: See-Berg. Künstlerhaus Thurn & Taxis, Bregenz (cat.)

1990: elsewhere. Bauer & Bloessl Gallery, Nuremberg (cat.)

• Sculptures. Galerie Debras-Bical, Brussels (cat.)

1991/92: Transparency - Transcendence. Ludwig-Forum, Aachen / USF Art Museum, Tampa / Samuel P. Harn Museum, Gainesville / Jacksonville Art Museum (cat.)

1993: magazine in magazine. Architekturzentrum Wien, Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz (cat.)

• I AM YOU billboard campaign. In more than 20 cities worldwide (cat.)

1994: private mix. Gallery EIGEN + ART, Berlin (cat.)

1995: Copy graphics. New Museum Weserburg, Bremen

1999: ZOOM - views on contemporary German art. LB Collection, Stuttgart (cat.)

2000: Cabinet of Drawings. Kunstverein Düsseldorf (cat.)

2001: BLACK & WHITE IS BEAUTIFUL. Studio La Citta, Verona (cat.)

• Art on prescription. Museum Ratingen u. a. (Cat.)
• TIME / SPACES. 2nd Triennial of Contemporary Art Oberschwaben, Biberach

2002: The clear view. Martinskirche Kassel, on the occasion of Documenta11 (cat.)

• Look & picture. Singen Art Museum / Municipal Gallery Konstanz / Ittingen Charterhouse

2003/04: Between myth and modernity. Liechtenstein Art Museum, Vaduz

2007: Time out / art and sustainability. Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (cat.)

• razor sharp! - The art of reproducing. Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen (cat.)

2008: Cuboid OTT. 4th Triennial of Contemporary Art Upper Swabia, Schlosskirche Friedrichshafen (cat.)

• 30 years of Galerie Lutze. Gallery Lutze, Friedrichshafen (cat.)

2009: Collecting collages. Art Association Augsburg

2010: GRAFFITI - POETRY. UBR Gallery, Salzburg

• Clutter. Achberg Castle (cat.)

2011: color space concept. Gallery Schütte, Essen (cat.)

2012: Reality and abstraction 2. Museum Liaunig, Neuhaus (cat.)

2013: the world from above. Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen (cat.)

2015: Imago Mundi - germany, mon amour! Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice

Awards

• 1976: Rudolf Hauser Prize
• 1977: Fügerpreis
• 1977–80: Foreign scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Art of the Republic of Austria
• 1979: Theodor Körner Prize
• 1992: Art Prize of the City of Constance

literature

1988: Noema Art Magazine, 5th year, issue 20. Jürgen Schweinbraden: Thom Barth.

1990: Artis - the current art magazine, 42nd year SD Sauerbier: Mundus est signum.

1991: NIKE, 9th year, No. 39. Gerhard Mack: Transzendentale perception research.

1992: EIKON - International Magazine for Photography & Media Art, Issue 3. Anselm Wagner: Circuit Fermé and Transparency.

• Constructivism: History and Application. Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 1040. Christoph Schmitz: Thom Barth - border crossing.
• Arte Factum, No. 45. Marianne Hoffmann: Hiking trails.

1993: KUNSTFORUM international, vol. 121. Georg Bussmann: And in the end the black.

• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 204. Volker Bauermeister: Reproduction machine.
• Megalomania, art projects for Europe. Lindinger and Schmid: Regensburg.
• ART POSITION, 5th year, issue 22. Marianne Hoffmann: Thom Barth - works from 1987–92.

1999: Artis, magazine for new art. Title page and carte blanche.

• The Art Bulletin, No. 12, 1994. Gerhard Mack: Thom Barth at Paszti-Bott.

1995: KUNSTFORUM international, vol. 129. Stephan Berg: Thom Barth - The ornaments never come to an end.

1997: KUNSTFORUM international, Bd. 139. Johannes Meinhardt: The big thing, the work and the cupboard.

• Süddeutsche Zeitung, No. 268. Gerhard Mack: Skin and bones.
• Stuttgart news. NP Forstbauer: Present under the dome or heroes for a day.
• TAZ Berlin. Martin Pesch: Everyday life to the power of three.
• Art newspaper. Ruth Händler: What a thing.

2002: KUNSTFORUM international, vol. 162. Markus Lütkemeyer: You know why you're here today?

• Art an Artifact, the museum as medium. James Putnam, Thames & Hudson Published by London.

Web links

• Literature by and about Thom Barth in the catalog of the German National Library
• Gerhard Mack: On the art of Thom Barth