Delicate paper markings using titanium and nanotechnology (“Law Blanks",1992) together with very large wall drawings (“Firewall", 2005-2006), a robotic platform with a soccer ball (“Global Culture") and suspended pneumatic tubes together with Kunstmuseum Bern’s drawings (“Bergang", 1982) from its collection are part of the exhibition.
Round the Corner
Delicate paper markings using titanium and nanotechnology (“Law Blanks",1992)
together with very large wall drawings (“Firewall", 2005-2006), a robotic platform
with a soccer ball (“Global Culture", 2004-2005) and suspended pneumatic tubes
together with Kunstmuseum Bern’s drawings (“bergang", 1982) from its
collection are part of this new exhibition of early and recent works by Serge
Spitzer.
What combines these (and from their description) apparently heteroclite
manifestations is less the medium or the materials than the preoccupation with the
line itself: the line on and about a sheet of paper; or on the wall as an object;
the unpredictable virtual line traced by the rolling soccer ball; or one that leads
the mind and ends in apparent confusion, releasing itself from the sign while
creating links to the real.
As the title of the exhibition “Round the Corner" indicates, the sudden deviation of
the line leading to the many possibilities of everyday, can be found just round the
corner. Spitzer describes his works as “reality models". He combines art conventions
and contexts with technological, biological, social and other systems and attempts
to question processes of communication, perception and the awakening of
consciousness.
Serge Spitzer is considered one of the pro-eminent artists of his generation. He was
born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1951 and since the early eighties lives and works in
New York. His work has been shown in many museums and art institutions, among them:
Folkwang Museum Essen 1979, Museum of Modern Art New York 1983, Kunstmuseum Bern
1984, Magasin Grenoble 1987, Gemeentemuseum The Hague 1992, Kunsthalle and
Kunstverein Dsseldorf 1993, IVAM Centro Julio Gonzales and Centro del Carme
Valencia 1994, Henri Moore Institute Leeds 1994, Westlischer Kunstverein
Mnster 1995, Kunsthalle Bern 2002. He participated in many international art
exhibitions and biennials, such as: Documenta 8 Kassel 1987, Istanbul Biennial 1994,
Biennale de Lyon 1997, Kwangju Biennial 1997, Venice Biennale 1999, and contributed
works to many group and thematic exhibitions. His work is represented in many public
and private collections, among them: Brooklyn Museum New York, Fogg Art Museum Cam
bridge MA, Museum Folkwang Essen, Haags Gemeentemuseum The Hague, Kunstmuseum Bern,
IVAM Instituto Valenciano d’Arte Moderno Valencia, Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago IL, Musée d’Art Contemporain Lyon, Nationalgalerie Berlin, Staatliche
Museen Neue Galerie Kassel, Staatens Museum for Kunst Kopenhagen, The Museum of
Modern Art New York, The Menil Collection Houston, Yale University Art Gallery New
Heaven CT.
Re/Search (Alchemy and/or Question Marks with Swiss Air), 1996-2002
22 March 2006 - end of 2007
This installation is being redesigned and adapted by Serge Spitzer to a new space at
Kunstmuseum Bern. The original concept was first shown at the Biennale in Lyon as
“Re/Search (Bread and Butter with the ever present question of What is the
Difference between a Croissant and a Baguette)", 1996-1997, and under the current
title in the Pavilion of the Swiss National Bank conceived by Harald Szeemann at the
Expo.02 in Biel, Switzerland (2002). The installation “Re/Search (Alchemy and/or
Question Marks with Swiss Air)" will now be on view till at least the end of 2007 in
a room on the ground floor in the old wing (opened in 1879) of the museum. The
transparent labyrinth of synthetic tubing sprawls throughout the room, creating an
impassable tangle through which pneumatic tube systems transport air capsules by
chance, in the hope of never colliding.
Opening: 21 March, 2006 18.30 - 21.00 hrs
Kunstmuseum Bern
Hodlerstrasse 8-12 - Bern
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 10 - 17 hrs, Tuesday 10 - 21 hrs