18/9/2009
Rolf Julius
Oboro, Montreal
Distance. Since the beginning of the 1970's, Rolf Julius has developed a series of aesthetic propositions relating drawing, painting, sculpture, sound, video, and silence. The artist works with simple materials (pigment, dust, ashes, terracotta or aluminum bowls, copper wire, stones, wood), different-sized speakers, video screens, and DVD players, which he then assembles to create sculptures, sound objects or installations. Rolf Julius's Distance brings together works dating back to the beginning of the 1980's.
Curated by Nicole Gingras
Rolf Julius – Distance is the third exhibition of the series LISTENING TO SEE conceptualised and coordinated by Montreal-based guest curator Nicole Gingras for the Goethe-Institut Montreal's NOISE AND SILENCE 2008-2009 program.
Since the beginning of the 1970’s, Rolf Julius has developed a series of aesthetic propositions relating drawing, painting, sculpture, sound, video, and silence. The artist works with simple materials (pigment, dust, ashes, terracotta or aluminum bowls, copper wire, stones, wood), different-sized speakers, video screens, and DVD players, which he then assembles to create sculptures, sound objects or installations. These elements are taken apart, moved around and rearranged in various configurations. Over time, each work is therefore transformed into as many compositions. A careful observer will understand the extent to which this process contributes to the continuity of a practice based on the exploration of visual and audio material, feeding off one another in an exchange of physical, aesthetic and symbolic properties. The combining of these elements expands on the idea that one can see, or touch a sound. Rolf Julius – Distance brings together works dating back to the beginning of the 1980’s.
This is Rolf Julius’ first solo exhibit in Canada.
concert-performance: Rolf Julius - Music for a Wide Plain
Friday, September 18, 2009, at 7 pm. No latecomers will be admitted.
OBORO’s New Media Lab
Tickets: $10 on sale one hour before the concert.
Rolf Julius’s practice extends to concert/performances where the artist presents his explorations of sound and its relationship to the present. He is especially interested in the surface and the distance of sound, creating complex and fragile audio environments. His discography counts several CDs, distributed under various German labels. While in Montreal, Rolf Julius will create Music for a Wide Plain (Musik für eine weite Ebene), a peaceful imaginary landscape.
talk: Rolf Julius – Conversation
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, at 5:30 pm
At the Goethe-Institut (418 Sherbrooke Sreet East, Montreal)
Free Admission
Rolf Julius will discuss his art practice with Nicole Gingras. The conversation will take place in English, and will be punctuated with excerpts of his audio work. A reception will be follow.
Rolf Julius (born in 1939, Wilhelmshaven) studied art in Bremen and Berlin from 1961-69. In the mid- 70s he began experimenting with contemporary music to further elucidate his perception of the visual. In 1979 Julius started to integrate sound and noise into his creative work and initiated his own tape compositions. He now lives and works in Berlin. Recipient of many prestigious awards, among which the Deutscher Klangkunstpreis in 2004 and the Hannah Höch award in 2005, Rolf Julius’ work has been featured in solo exhibitions in Germany, the United States, France and Japan.
Nicole Gingras is a curator and author living in Montreal. This exhibition of Rolf Julius’ work ties into her research on the perception and experience of sound in space, and the relationships between sound, image and silence.
Opening: Saturday, September 19, 2009, at 5 pm
OBORO
4001, rue Berri, local 301, Montreal (Quebec)
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, Noon to 5:00 p.m.
free entry