Uli beans

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Uli Bohnen (born February 9, 1948 in Mönchengladbach ) is a German art historian , art theorist , exhibition organizer, photographer and collector. He conducted research on the group of progressive artists founded in Cologne after the First World War . His dissertation on this topic was published in 1976, and in 1978 exhibitions about Franz W. Seiwert and Hans Schmitz that he had prepared and accompanied by catalogs took place at the Kölnischer Kunstverein . In 1982, Bohnen published Otto Freundlich's writings at DuMont Verlag . Until his retirement, Uli Bohnen taught as a professor for art history and aesthetic theory at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (today Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences ).

Uli beans

Life

From 1958 to 1965 Uli Bohnen received art lessons from Otto Coenen in Mönchengladbach . After graduating from high school (1967) he studied art history, philosophy and general rhetoric in Tübingen (with Hans Holländer , Ernst Bloch , Rolf Denker and Walter Jens ) and in Berlin. Following his doctorate (1977), which he completed with the distinction “magna cum laude”, Uli Bohnen worked as a lecturer and visiting professor at universities in Germany and abroad. In 1992 he was appointed professor for life at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. He lives and works in Eschweiler.

research

Uli Bohnen (Ed.): Franz W. Seiwert. Life and work. Braunschweig 1978.

During his studies, Uli Bohnen conducted research on the Cologne group of progressive artists (1918–1933) around Franz W. Seiwert and Heinrich Hoerle . He contacted the members and friends who were still alive and carried out basic research on their work. Uli Bohnen published his results in numerous books and articles, and he also curated exhibitions on the subject.

As part of his research, Bohnen also dealt with the identity and work of B. Traven . His work is an essential building block in research. It is, for example, Uli Bhnen's merit to have examined the connection between Traven (Ret Marut) and FW Seiwert for the first time.

Furthermore, Uli Bohnen conducted intensive research into the works of the painter Otto Coenen and the sculptor Otto Freundlich. He drew up catalogs of works, edited publications and organized exhibitions. For Bohnen, whether an exhibition is good does not necessarily only depend on the quality of the artist (s), but also “on the degree of intellectual debate”. David Galloway praised the exhibition “Transparency - Transcendence” curated by him as “a handsome, provocative show”.

Instead of dedicating himself to the great artists such as Pablo Picasso or Max Ernst , who had long been established in art history , Uli Bohnen was always interested in promoting modern artists who have tended to be neglected by art research. These include, among others Elfriede Stegemeyer (1908-1988), Hans Schmitz (1896-1977), August Tschinkel (1905-1983), Otto Coenen (1907-1971) and Raoul Ubac (1910-1985). And also Otto Freundlich, whose writings Uli Bohnen published. He tore the artist from oblivion and made "Freundlich's social-revolutionary art philosophy recognizable for the first time." Alfred Welti even speaks of a "standard work".

Uli Bhnen's interpretations of the connection between Expressionism, Constructivism, Dada and Surrealism, which differ from the widespread, are significant.

subjects

From the beginning of the 1970s, Uli Bohnen dealt on the one hand with the rationalistically founded constructivism of the Rhenish Progressives (theoretically mainly with Franz W. Seiwert) and on the other hand with the more metaphysically oriented practice and theory of Otto Freundlich .

His research resulted in a constellation of influences which, in a number of variations, shaped his work up until the 1990s. In contrast to the usual interpretations, Bohnen interpreted Andy Warhol as a more metaphysical artist in contrast to the Jesuit-rational Joseph Beuys .

The preoccupation with the so-called proletarian culture in connection with the Russian Revolution, suggested by the 'progressives', led Uli Bohnen to favor reflective forms of expression of the social revolutionary mass movements with the tendency to overcome expressionism.

Teaching

photography

Uli Bohnen has also worked as an artistic photographer since the 1970s. Klaus Honnef writes: "With the Bechers [he] shares the concentration on a complex of topics, with [Martin] Parr the sometimes biting view and with [Richard] Misrach the commitment." Important topics in Bohnen's photographic work are on the one hand religious motifs and on the other the traces that real socialism has left in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Poland and the GDR as far as Cuba. Since the 1990s, he has been documenting social change, especially in countries of the former Soviet Union. He is particularly interested in the contradictions and curiosities from a cultural-historical point of view. One could describe Bohnen's photos as evidence of an 'alternative tourism' of its own. Uli Bohnen himself speaks of “photographic visualizations”.

“Through his way of working, Uli Bohnen shows that it is not the photographic technology that is guaranteed by modern innovations and perfect cameras anyway, but the will to create, initiated by a worldview that knows what it wants to reflect and show, which leads to effective images.” Bazon Brock adds: “Bohne's picture criticizes the rationalist view that as a modern contemporary one could, at will or opportunity, either limit oneself to the symbolic representation of the world or the mere embodiment of social roles or to the feeding orgies of incarnations.” Under the title “Paradise In 2006 the Kunsthalle Barmen and the Bethe Foundation in Wuppertal-Barmen presented a selection of Bohnen's pictures. The exhibition catalog was published by Hatje Cantz . In his review, Michael Klein-Reitzenstein wrote: “Uli Bohnen was interested in the change in the meaning of things, the changes in their environment and the change in reception by the population. In often ambiguous and multi-layered images, he shows the viewer with a critical, ironic, sometimes sarcastic look how these things have been profaned and / or commercialized over the course of a few years. "

Collections

In the early 1990s, Uli Bohnen began building up an extensive collection of Socialistica, i.e. objects with a creative relationship to socialism. The pieces come from countries like the PRC, the former USSR and other countries in Eastern Europe and Cuba. The oldest were made in 1919, the youngest around 2006. “Uli Bohnen owns many Stalins in different packaging, designs and functions, but that doesn't mean, he emphasizes, that he adores Stalin,” Hannelore Hippe explained in a radio feature . Uli Bohnen presented some exhibits in exhibitions in Charleroi in 2001 and 2002. and Aachen He also collects ethnographics (mainly from Africa). The authenticity of the Socialistica, as in the case of the Africana, is that they were in ritual use.

Gifts

Numerous photographs and Uli Bohnen's negative archive have been donated to the holdings of the Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur . The donation also includes a large bundle of documents and von Bhnen's correspondence.

In addition, donations were made from Bohn's art collection to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn. The Bohnen / Laugs couple donated a generous amount of African artifacts to the Africa House in Sebnitz.

Own exhibitions

Solo exhibitions (selection)

  • 2002: collection. Photographic work and Socialistica collectibles. Galerie S, Aachen, opening: Bazon Brock
  • 2006: Paradise L'Ost. Kunsthalle Barmen, Wuppertal and Bethe Foundation, Wuppertal-Barmen, opening: Klaus Honnef
  • 2007: Paradise L'Ost. Villa Ichon , Bremen, opening: Wulf Herzogenrath

Group exhibitions (selection)

  • 1978: Inaugural exhibition of the Burtscheider School , Aachen
  • 1983: Winter exhibition of Aachen artists in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum , Aachen
  • 1997: Eutopia - Mail Art from the West. Provinciaalregering Limburg, Maastricht / Netherlands
  • 2000: Homage to Achim Duchow (1948–1993). Gallery Klein, Bad Münstereifel
  • 2001: Position à la Periphérie II. Art from East Belgium. Bâtiment Provincial. Solvay (Université du Travail Paul Pastur), Charleroi / Belgium
  • 2007: Another collection. Trude and Peter Lacroix collection. Suermondt Ludwig Museum, Aachen

Curated exhibitions (selection)

Publications

Uli Bohnen (Ed.): Otto Coenen. Lebn and Werk, Cologne 1983.

Books and exhibition catalogs (selection)

  • Uli Bohnen: The law of the world is changing the world. The Rhenish group of progressive artists (1918–1933). Dissertation. Karin Kramer Verlag , Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-97956-077-3 .
  • Franz W. Seiwert (1894-1933). Life and work. Text and catalog raisonné. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Uli Bohnen and the Kölnischer Kunstverein. Orphanage printing and publishing house, Braunschweig 1978.
  • Franz W. Seiwert. The step once taken is not withdrawn. Fonts. Edited by Uli Bohnen and Dirk Backes. Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin 1978.
  • Otto Freundlich. A pioneer of non-representational art. Fonts. Published by Uli Bohnen. DuMont Buchverlag , Cologne 1982, ISBN 3-7701-1263-6 .
  • Otto Coenen. Life and work. Exhibition catalog. Published by Uli Bohnen, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in Berlin and Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen. Participation in the exhibition and work overview of Dirk Backes. With contributions by Uli Bohnen, Martha Laugs, Klaus Flemming. Wienand Verlag , Cologne 1983, ISBN 3-87909-128-5 .
  • Homage - dismantling. Exhibition catalog. German English. Dutch supplement booklet. Published by Uli Bohnen. With contributions by Uli Bohnen, Peter Frank, Wouter Kotte, Louis Peters. Wienand Verlag, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-87909-193-5 .
  • Transparency - transcendence. Exhibition catalog. German English. Published by Uli Bohnen. With contributions by Wolfgang Becker, Uli Bohnen, Wouter Kotte, Margaret A. Miller. Wienand Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-87909-263-X .
  • Uli beans: Paradise L'Ost. Photos by Uli Bohnen. Texts by Klaus Honnef and Bazon Brock. An interview by Antje Birthälmer with Uli Bohnen. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 3-7757-1773-0 .

Articles and catalog contributions (selection)

  • Gerd Arntz - Politieke Prenten tussen twee oorlogen. SUN Verlag, Nijmegen / Netherlands 1973.
  • To understand the political ideas of the Rhenish 'group of progressive artists '. In: From Dadamax to Green Belt. Cologne in the twenties. Exhibition catalog. Editor Wulf Herzogenrath . Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne 1975.
  • Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (1894–1933). In: Exhibition folder Franz Wilhelm Seiwert. Salón de la plástica Mexicana, Mexico City 1977 (Spanish)
  • The sculptor and graphic artist Hans Schmitz (1896–1977). Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne 1978.
  • Ret Marut (= B. Traven ). and his Rhenish friends. In: Black Protocols. 16, Berlin 1978.
  • Ernst Bloch - empiricist of the mystical. Black protocols, pseudonym Doctor Eisenbarth. In 16, Berlin 1978.
  • Ernst Wille and the foundation of the classic in the present. In: Ernst Wille - Basler Blätter. Edition Lanz, Basel 1984.
  • Gottfried Brockmann - Painter Between Two Chairs? In: Gottfried Brockmann. Exhibition catalog. Overbeck Society , Lübeck 1985.
  • Conservatism and Modernity: Drawing in Cologne During the Twenties. In: German Realist Drawing of the 1920s. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Peter Nisbet and Carol Selle. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , New York 1986.
  • Between Baroque and Dada: Rainer Gross. In: Rainer Gross. Ut poesis pictura 1977-1986. Published by Samson Dietrich Sauerbier, Cologne Art Fair, Cologne / New York 1986.
  • Another collection - The Lacroix Collection. In: Lacroix Collection. Exhibition catalog, Aachen 1988.
  • Possibly through the brain under the skin. In: Mischa Kuball: Deutsches Haus Würzburg 1989. Deutsches Haus (social housing). German pavilion. Media drama. Exhibition catalog. City of Würzburg Museum in the Kulturspeicher , Würzburg 1989, ISBN 3-928155-02-4 .
  • Modernity, rationality and reaction - or: how square is the black square? In: The Explosion of the Black Square. Reality and utopia of rational art. Documentation of a symposium of the Bonn Art Week 1989. Edited by Horst Rave. Society for Art and Design , Bonn 1989.
  • Arthur Lehning - anarchist and scholar between two eras. In: Liber Amicorum - Arthur Lehning on his 90th birthday. Maastricht / Netherlands 1989.
  • Achim Duchow: Obvious ambushes - devious revelations. In: Achim Duchow. Do you want to be poor again? Exhibition catalog. New Aachener Kunstverein , Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf 1990.
  • Symbol and Contradiction - A Project of Osvaldo Romberg. In: Osvaldo Romberg: The Last Mikvah on Fifth Avenue. Exhibition leaflet. The Jewish Museum, New York 1990.
  • The slightly different modernity. In: hfg forum 15. Hochschule für Gestaltung , Offenbach am Main 1993.
  • Günther Selichar: Off through the media ! In: Günther Selichar - Suchbilder. Exhibition catalog. Ropac Gallery, Salzburg 1993.
  • Sidney Tillim: Painting between cultural history and television. In: Sidney Tillim . Exhibition catalog. Gallery Vorsetzen, Hamburg 1994.
  • Warhol - Beuys. Normality of transcendence or transcendence of normality? In: rule and exception. Festschrift for Hans Holländer . Edited by Peter Gerlach and Heinz Herbert. Thouet Verlag, Aachen / Leipzig / Paris 1995, ISBN 3-930594-08-0 .
  • Martha Laugs and the bomb. In: Martha Laugs - Technically Sweet. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Gabriele Uelsberg and Martha Laugs. Municipal Museum in the Alte Post, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1996, ISBN 3-928135-10-4 .
  • Raoul Ubac and the 'Ecole de Cologne'. In: Raoul Ubac: 1910-1985. Sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs. Exhibition catalog. Grenz-Echo-Verlag, Eupen 1996, ISBN 90-5433-085-6 .
  • Elfriede Stegemeyer and the Rhenish Progressives. In: Elfriede Stegemeyer - photographs. Exhibition catalog. Kunsthalle Bremen / Bauhaus Dessau. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern 1999, ISBN 3-89322-505-6 .
  • Heinrich Siepmann: Images of freedom and order. In: Heinrich Siepmann. Monograph and catalog raisonné of the paintings. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Ferdinand Ulrich. Zeche Zollverein Essen and Kunsthalle Recklinghausen . Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld 1999, ISBN 3-929040-41-7 .
  • Gerard Caris - or: The world as dimensionality and imagination. In: Gerard Caris: Art and Mathematics. New reflections on the pentagon. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Theresia Kiefer and Gerard Caris. Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen 1999, ISBN 3-00-004903-7 .
  • Not Too Bad. In: Bad Bad. Exhibition catalog. Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 1999.
  • Fetish media. Exhibition brochure. Gallery Schüppenhauer, Cologne 2002.

Web links

Commons : Uli Bohnen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ARTIST: Greetings to you treason . In: Spiegel Online . tape 4 , January 23, 1978 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 11, 2019]).
  2. ^ Wulf Herzogenrath in conversation with Peter Moritz Pickshaus. Bielefeld, Essen, Cologne and much more. The 1970s and 80s. Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2019, p. 49.
  3. ↑ Annette Bosetti: For me, art is like a kind of knot in a handkerchief. Dr. Uli Bohnen: Exhibition organizer. In: Aachener Nachrichten. Special supplement Ludwig Forum, June 26, 1991.
  4. ^ David Galloway: Mixing Art and Exhibitionism. In: International Herald Tribune. August 3, 1991.
  5. ↑ In a review it says: “With the book now available from DuMont, his [Freundlichs] thoughts and theories, which represent a unique contribution to non-representational art, are torn from oblivion.” Cf. Henry G. Proskauer: Otto Freundlich, Wegbereiter of non-representational art. In: Structure. New York, February 11, 1983.
  6. ^ Joachim Heusinger von Waldegg: On the dialectic of color. The writings of the painter Otto Freundlich. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. January 27, 1983.
  7. ^ Alfred Welti: Standard work for modernity. In: art - the art magazine. January 1983.
  8. ↑ Cf. Modernity, Rationality and Reaction - or: How square is the black square? In: The Explosion of the Black Square - Reality and Utopia of Rational Art. Documentation of a symposium of the Society for Art and Design. Bonn 1989 and The Somewhat Different Modernity. In: hfg forum 15. Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach am Main 1993.
  9. ↑ See Franz W. Seiwert (1894–1933). Life and work. Text and catalog raisonné. Exhibition catalog. Edited by Uli Bohnen and the Kölnischer Kunstverein. Orphanage printing and publishing house, Braunschweig 1978.
  10. ↑ Uli Bohnen (Ed.): Otto Freundlich. A pioneer of modern art. Fonts. DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1982, ISBN 3-7701-1263-6 .
  11. ↑ Uli Bohnen (Ed.): Transparency - Transcendence. Exhibition catalog. Wienand Verlag, Cologne 1991, ISBN 3-87909-263-X , pp. 50-77, (German, English), as well as Warhol - Beuys. Normality of transcendence or transcendence of normality? In: Peter Gerlach, Heinz Herbert (ed.): Rule and exception. Festschrift for Hans Holländer. Thouet Verlag, Aachen / Leipzig / Paris 1995, ISBN 3-930594-08-0 .
  12. ↑ Uli Bohnen: The law of the world is the change of the world. The Rhenish group of progressive artists (1918–1933). Dissertation. Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-97956-077-3 .
  13. ^ Klaus Honnef: Uli Bohns photographic journeys through lost worlds. In: Uli beans. Paradise L'Ost. Exhibition catalog. Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit 2006, p. 9.
  14. ^ Klaus Honnef: Uli Bohnen - collector's artist. In: Uli beans. Collection. Exhibition catalog. Galerie S., Aachen 2002, p. 7.
  15. ↑ Martha Laugs: Uli beans. Photographer. In: Uli beans. Collection. Exhibition catalog. Galerie S., Aachen 2002, p. 18.
  16. ↑ Bazon Brock: The Constellation Creator. Uli Bohnen as an artist and collector. In: Uli Bohnen: Paradise L'Ost. Exhibition catalog . Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern-Ruit 2006, p. 28 ( bazonbrock.de ).
  17. ↑ Michael Klein-Reitzenstein: People - A search for traces. In: Freelens # 24. Hamburg 2nd quarter 2007.
  18. ↑ Hannelore Hippe: The collarbone of Saint Severin. Relic collectors in East and West. Feature. mdr culture / radio editing SFB and ORB, October 27, 2001.
  19. ^ Position à la Peripherie II. Art from East Belgium. Bâtiment Provincial Solvay (Université du Travail Paul Pastur), Charleroi / Belgium 2001.
  20. ↑ Uli Bohnen: Collection. Gallery S., Aachen 2002.
  21. ↑ Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur - Donation Uli Bohnen. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  22. ↑ This includes archive materials on Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Heinrich Hoerle, Hans Schmitz, Gerd Arntz , Otto Freundlich, August Tschinkel, Gottfried Brockmann , Franz Pfemfert and others as well as on Elfriede Stegemeyer, Otto Coenen and Raoul Ubac. There are also documentary photos of the beans in the course of his research on Ret Marut (= B. Traven ). made in Mexico as well as a complete copy of the extremely rare revolutionary magazine “Der Ziegelbrenner”, still published in Germany by Marut , on which Seiwert worked.
personal data
SURNAME Beans, Uli
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian, art theorist, exhibition organizer, photographer and collector
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Mönchengladbach