KUB Collection Showcase | Press Release Per Kirkeby Backstein: Skulptur und Architektur 27 | 02 – 25 | 10 | 2015 Exhibition Curator Rudolf Sagmeister Speakers Thomas D. Trummer, Werner Döring and Rudolf Sagmeister Press Conference Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 11 am Exhibition Opening Thursday, February 26, 2015, 7 pm Download for press photographs www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at Per Kirkeby (*1938 in Copenhagen) is internationally the most important representative of contemporary Scandinavian art. In 1962 the aspiring geologist was accepted at the Experimental Art School in Copenhagen where he developed a pictorial language, revolving round metamorphosis in nature, a multifaceted approach in the most diverse artistic media. Kirkeby has always emphasized that he regards himself to be a painter. It is against this background that his three-dimensional work – bronze casts, in addition to the famous brick sculptures he has been creating since the early 1980s – should be considered. Per Kirkeby’s comprehensive education in, and knowledge of, historical forms of building, as well as his numerous research trips both inside and outside Europe resonate in his brick sculptures. The brick works, which had an architectural character from the very beginning, began developing from the end of the 1980s onwards away from sculpture towards architecture, providing solutions to fundamental questions around architecture, to the relationship of the creative with the functional, and the everyday with the disturbing. His departure from basic additive forms, simple grids and ornamentation, such as nine squares and the meander, results in complex and mysterious works which in addition to rational structures, also display »metaphysical shadows«. In 1997 a large Per Kirkeby solo exhibition took place at Kunsthaus Bregenz, and a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of the brick sculptures and architecture was published. During preparations for the exhibition and publication Per Kirkeby arranged for a gift of over 200 original large-scale drawings to the Kunsthaus, consequently today the archive of Kunsthaus Bregenz possesses the most important collection of Kirkeby’s architectonic output. The exhibition will display the large-format preparatory drawings in ink and red chalk for Per Kirkeby’s brick sculptures along with small-scale sketches, sketchbooks, and photographs. Furthermore over a hundred of Per Kirkeby’s books will be on show which Kunsthaus Bregenz also received as a gift. These are valuable, and today much sought after, small editions, revealing the artist as author, art theorist and educator. KUB Publication Per Kirkeby Brick Sculpture and Architecture Catalogue Raisonné Per Kirkeby’s brick sculptures are located all across Europe, and a trip to visit them will often lead to places off tourism’s beaten tracks. The catalogue raisonné is a virtual journey to almost one hundred destinations and their histories. It is the first complete catalogue raisonné of the brick sculpture and architecture from 1965 to 1997 by the internationally renowned Danish artist. Approximately one hundred permanent and around twenty temporary works are documented in photographs and short texts. In addition there are contributions by highly respected art historians and architectural critics who cast light on the work, interpreting it from diverse perspectives. Per Kirkeby Brick Sculpture and Architecture Catalogue Raisonné Edited by Edelbert Köb, Kunsthaus Bregenz; Concept: Rudolf Sagmeister With contributions by Johannes Gachnang, Otto Kapfinger, and Lars Morell, amongst others Graphic design: Reinhard Gassner | Bernd Altenried German | English, 279 pages, 22.3 x 29.3 cm, Hardcover, Date of publication: 1997 42 Euros KUB Online Shop www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at also available at KUB Kassa KUB Education Highlights Seite 1 | 8 Lecture by Thomas Bo Jensen (Architect, Copenhagen) Friday, March 13, 6 pm In his lecture (in English) Thomas Bo Jensen will be examining the architectonic aspects of Per Kirkeby’s work. Guided tour with Dietmar Eberle (Architect, baumschlager eberle) Friday, April 24, 6 pm Guided tour with Rudolf Sagmeister (Curator KUB) Sunday, June 14, 2 pm With advanced booking individually tailored tours or workshops can be arranged. Please contact: Lidiya Anastasova Ext. -415 | l.anastasova@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Seite 2 | 8 KUB 2015 | Press Release Thomas D. Trummer is the New KUB Director Download for press photographs and a résumé for Thomas D. Trummer www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at Thomas D. Trummer will be the new Director of Kunsthaus Bregenz from May 2015 Seite 3 | 8 The successor to Yilmaz Dziewior, who has now been at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne since the beginning of February, was already nominated in October of last year. The new Director of Kunsthaus Bregenz is Thomas D. Trummer, born in Steiermark, Austria, he will be taking up his new post in May 2015. Thomas D. Trummer (*1967 in Bruck/Mur) has been the Director of Kunsthalle Mainz since 2012. The institution’s increased profile, resulting from solo exhibitions by such artists as Ed Atkins, Monica Bonvicini, Bruce Nauman, and Thomas Schütte amongst others, has been widely acknowledged in the media. Having previously worked in Munich, and Cologne, as well as in the USA, following an international competition in 2006–2007, Trummer was appointed the inaugural Hall Curatorial Fellow at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. This appointment had been preceded by ten years as Curator for Contemporary Art at the Belvedere in Vienna, in which capacity Trummer founded Atelier Augarten, today TB21 Augarten Contemporary. Subsequently, from 2007 to 2012, he developed exhibitions and cooperative projects for the Munich based Siemens Arts Program, involving museums in Belgrade, Kiev, Detroit, Chicago, Brussels, Budapest, Buenos Aires, and Zürich amongst others. In 2011-2012 he worked with Kasper König on his last show for the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Before the Law. Since 2013 Trummer has been a member of the advisory team of the EVN Collection. The process of finding a successor to Yilmaz Dziewior began in June of last year. The prominent members of the selection committee, consisting of external experts Karola Kraus (mumok wien), artist Markus Schinwald, and curator Bice Curiger, as well as Harald Sonderegger, Regional Secretary of Culture, Dr. Winfried Nußbaumüller, Head of Vorarlberg Cultural Department, Jürg Zumtobel, the longstanding President of KUB Friends and member of the Supervisory Board, and Dr. Werner Döring, Executive Director of Bregenz’s cultural institutions, made a selection from 80 applications. During the final deliberations the jury unanimously decided to appoint Thomas D. Trummer. »He was extremely convincing in his detailed concept, which not only embraced the Kunsthaus’s unique features along with its unusual exhibition history, but also simultaneously envisaged innovations in terms of the program’s content,« explained Dr. Winfried Nußbaummüller, Head of Vorarlberg Cultural Department. Harald Sonderegger, the departing Regional Secretary of Culture, was likewise satisfied. »I’m delighted that the Kunsthaus is being entrusted to such well qualified hands,« he said. The new Director of Kunsthaus Bregenz has impressive plans for the future. »For me KUB, with its outstanding architecture, is a stage for the very best. Peter Zumthor has created a manifesto Seite 4 | 8 within the town. The list of the artists who have exhibited here, reads like a who’s who of contemporary art. The building lends itself not only to audacious ideas, but also to being a studio space for prototypes, and as a dragnet for narratives that go against the grain. Its future lies in promoting ongoing innovation. I’m very much looking forward to KUB, to Bregenz itself, and to encountering all the enthusiastic people,« he explained in an initial response to his appointment. »We’re expecting some exciting years ahead for Kunsthaus Bregenz,« added Dr. Werner Döring, Executive Director of Bregenz’s cultural institutions. Yilmaz Dziewior was Director of Kunsthaus Bregenz until January 2015. The exhibition program for 2015 has already been scheduled. Thomas D. Trummer will take up his new duties from May 2015. Biography Thomas D. Trummer Thomas D. Trummer (born 1967, Bruck an der Mur, Austria) is a curator and writer who studied art history, philosophy, and music at the University of Graz. Since August 2012 he has been Director of the Kunsthalle Mainz. From 2007–2012 he was curator for Visual Arts at Siemens Arts Program and Siemens Stiftung, Munich. Trummer was a Seite 5 | 8 Visiting Scholar at ACT, the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2010–2011; and Hall Curatorial Fellow at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, 2006–2007. Trummer is member of the curatorial team of the evn-collection. Recent curatorial projects include: Ed Atkins & Bruce Nauman, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2014; Les Gueules Cassées, Kunsthalle Mainz 2014; Thomas Schütte & Danh Võ, Kunsthalle Mainz 2013; Monica Bonvicini & Sterling Ruby, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2012-2013; David Claerbout, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz, 2013; Attila CsörgÅ‘ & Roman Signer, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2012–2013; Lara Favaretto, Ryan Gander, Alina Szapocznikow, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna, 2012; Before The Law, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2011–2012; Artistic Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 2010–2011; Displaced Fractures, migros museum, Zurich, 2010; The Science of Imagination, Ludwig Muzéum, Budapest, 2010; Coral Visual, Casa de la Cultura, Buenos Aires, 2009; and Several Silences, Renaissance Society, Chicago, 2009; Matt Mullican, Kunsthalle Mainz 2014; KölnSkulptur #8, 2015. Partner and Sponsors Kunsthaus Bregenz would like to thank its partners for their generous financial support and the cultural commitment that goes along with it. Seite 6 | 8 Venue KUB Collection Showcase Seestraße 5 | 6900 Bregenz | Austria Telephone +43-5574-485 94-0 | Fax +43-5574-485 94-408 kub@kunsthaus-bregenz.at | www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at Entrance on the Kornmarktstraße side, Seite 7 | 8 next to the Nepomukkapelle church Institution Kunsthaus Bregenz Director from May 2015 Thomas D. Trummer Commercial Director Werner Döring Curator Rudolf Sagmeister Curator KUB Arena Eva Birkenstock Marketing | Sponsoring Birgit Albers | ext. -413 b.albers@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Press | Online Media Martina Feurstein | ext. -410 m.feurstein@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Art Education Kirsten Helfrich ext. -417 k.helfrich@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Publications | Editions Katrin Wiethege | ext. -411 k.wiethege@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Edition Sales Caroline Schneider | ext. -444 c.schneider@kunsthaus-bregenz.at Opening Times Friday to Sunday 10 am — 6 pm Reception Desk | ext. -433 Closed from April 10 to 12 and from July 10 to 12 Seite 8 | 8