Douglas Huebler
dal 16/2/2002 al 14/4/2002
Segnalato da
16/2/2002
Douglas Huebler
Camden Arts Centre, London
His photographic and text-based works from the late 60s and early 70s. The show focuses on the humane and humorous vein in Huebler's work that often goes unexamined. The exhibition includes a selection from Huebler's famous Variable Piece No. 70 series, a project the artist set himself in 1971 to 'photographically document, to the extent of his capacity, the existence of everyone alive'.
This first substantial exhibition in Britain of work by the
pioneer American conceptual artist Douglas Huebler,
(1924-1997) comprises his photographic and text-based
works from the late 60s and early 70s. The show focuses
on the humane and humorous vein in Huebler's work that
often goes unexamined, yet it is this playful aspect of his
work which distinguishes and perhaps distances him from
other conceptual artists.
Many of the works are self-portraits and photographs
documenting personal activities (following the sound of
bird-calls in Central Park), photographs of friends and
family (the artist Bernd Becher pulling faces), or
photographs of strangers in city streets (documenting, for
example, people's reactions after telling them 'You have a
beautiful face'). Other works set out games and activities
for the owner or viewer. The exhibition includes a selection
from Huebler's famous Variable Piece No. 70 series - a
project the artist set himself in 1971 to 'photographically
document, to the extent of his capacity, the existence of
everyone alive'.
Huebler's oeuvre encompassed painting, sculpture,
photographic-based work, and installation. In the late
1960s, he took part in seminal exhibitions of conceptual
art, working with Seth Siegelaub and showing with Robert
Barry, Joseph Kosuth and Lawrence Wiener. Throughout
the 1970s and 80s he showed with Leo Castelli and
Sperone/Westwater (New York), Konrad Fischer
(Dusseldorf), Lia Rumma (Naples) and Jack Wendler
(London) amongst others. His most recent solo shows
were at F.R.A.C., Limousin, France 1992-93 and at the
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels 1996/97. Through his
teaching posts which included the California Institute of
the Arts, he became a 'mentor' to a younger generation of
artists including Mike Kelley.
The exhibition has been researched and jointly selected by
art historian and critic Mark Godfrey.
Supported b The Henry Moore Foundation, the Elephant
Trust, the Judith Rothschild Foundation, the Glass-House
Trust and individual donors
Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Road, London NW3 6DG, UK Telephone ++44 (0)20 7435 2643
Facsimile ++44 (0)20 7794 3371