Paradise | Works by and around Michael Buthe | KLEINERVONWIESE | 27.11.-31.12.2020 – extended until 28.02.2021

extended until 28.02. | #2927ARTatBerlin | KLEINERVONWIESE shows from 27th November 2020 at enter art airshop opas Nr 1 the group show Paradise with works by and around Michael Buthe.

Participating artists:
Michael Buthe, Nasser Almulhim, Andreas Blank, Klaus vom Bruch, David Krippendorff, Stefan Kürten, Marcel Odenbach, Manfred Peckl, Angelika Platen, Stephan Rinck, Ulrike Rosenbach, Maik Schierloh, Pola Sieverding, Kerstin Serz, Barthélémy Toguo, Ricardo Peredo Wende, Abbas Yousif

Co-gallery owner Stephan von Wiese, former museum curator in Düsseldorf, designed the 1977 solo exhibition “Homage to a Prince from Samarkant” in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf with works by Michael Buthe. In 1999 he organised a retrospective of his work there. In 1983 his book: Michael Buthe. Skulptura in Deo Fabulosa” was published by Silke Schreiber.

In Buthe’s work, conventions are consistently broken, the spontaneous attitude to life flows directly into the works. The very near and the very different are reflected, happiness and sorrow are captured unbroken and authentically. Through the many cords and cloths in Butte’s work, these magical moments seem to be tied up. The art becomes a great voyage of discovery, the work is a mythical space.

Michael Buthe, sometimes ennobled to “Michel de la Sainte Beauté”, was one of the first after the last two major wars in Europe to take up the beauty and mysticism of the cultures of the Orient in West Germany in the 1970s without any colonialist attitude and to introduce them into a contemporary context. During his many travels to distant countries and cultures, the artist was, in a sense, in search of the “lost paradise”, one understands “paradise” in the original meaning as a protected, happily fulfilled place.

In his works, environments, sculptures, actions, paintings, Buthe repeatedly incorporated found objects – objects trouvés – pieces of clothing, feathers, snail shells, tins, everyday objects, often ritually wrapped with strings or torn cloths. By using gold leaf, many works were charged with sacred and representative radiation – and often skillfully provocatively overloaded.

Michael Buthe, Ohne Titel., 1994, Mischtechnik auf Leinwand,
70 x 50 cm, (MB-TL 04)

Buthes letzte Werke aus Tanger von 1994, eines ist das zentrale Motiv der aktuellen Ausstellung (siehe oben), sind unter anderem ein ins Malerische umgesetzter „Orakelkorb“, wie ihn der Künstler einst in Benin kennengelernt hatte. Der Orakelkorb dieser afrikanischen Stammeskultur enthält viele kleine Objekte wie Muscheln, Knochen, Figuren, Artefakte aller Art, die vom Medizinmann immer wieder neu geschüttelt und in jeweils neuer Kombinatorik inhaltlich gedeutet werden.

Michael Buthe, Ohne Titel, 1994, Aquarell Collage, 36 x 51 cm, TA 08, VK-Preis 

KLEINERVONWIESE beleuchtet mit der Ausstellung „Paradise“ eine kleinere Auswahl von Spätwerken aus dem Nachlass des Künstlers, zumeist 1994 in Tanger, auf Buthes letzter Reise entstanden und bisher nur einmal, 1994, in der Galerie Ribbentrop in Eltville ausgestellt. 1994 war auch das Todesjahr des 1944 geborenen Künstlers. Größere Werkübersichten gab es zuletzt 2015 und 2016 im Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.) in Gent und im Münchner Haus der Kunst als Präsentation der Sammlung Goetz.

 

Barthélémy Toguo, Welcome home, 2012, Aquarell auf Papier, 28 x 38 cm

The sensuous fire in Michael Buthe’s work comes periodically ablaze, just as his pieces become visible, particularly in times like these, when distance seems to be essential for survival. Thid fire was also the inspiration for this group exhibition, which includes works by his Cologne friends – such as Ulrike Rosenbach, Klaus vom Bruch, Marcel Odenbach and Stefan Kürten, a student of Buthe – but also by current African and Arabic artists such as Abbas Yousif from Bahrain, Nasser Almulhim from Saudi Arabia and Barthélémy Toguo from Cameroon.

Kerstin Serz, Akalanthis, 2020, Öl, Acryl und Blattgold 18 Karat auf Nessel, 80cm x 100 cm

Kerstin Serz, “Binsengold”, 2020, Öl, Acryl und Blattgold (Citrongold 18 Karat), 70 cm x 100 cm

Klaus vom Bruch, “Michael Buthe, Hommage an einen Prinzen aus Samarkant” /
Feat. Udo Kier. Video der Performance im Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf 1977

The sculptors Andreas Blank and Stefan Rinck from Berlin have works in the exhibition, as well as the ceramic sculptor Chris Hammerlein, the painter Kerstin Serz, the painters Manfred Peckl and Maik Schierloh, and the painters and video artists David Krippendorff and Ricardo Peredo Wende, the photo and video artist Pola Sieverding.

Stefan Rinck, Brancasso, 2017, Roter Sandstein, 12.000 EUR

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Andreas Blank, “Untitled” 2020, Marmor, 42 x 32 x 6 cm

Andreas Blank, “Still Life”, 2019, Alabaster, Katzengold, 26 x 8 x 8 cm

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David Krippendorff, “Silenced with Gold”, 2017 – 2020.
Blattgold auf Partitur, 124 x 184

The photographer Angelika Platen created a unique photo series of Michael Buthe shortly after his first return trip from Morocco in 1970. Her shots show the transformation from a young, suit-and-tie-wearing art student into an entirely new person: into Michael Buthe, who from now on would appear in a burnous and with a feather in his hair – you can almost hear his exuberant laugh. It is a rare thing to be able to capture people in their moments of redemption. Angelika Platen has achieved this.

Angelika Platen, Exotisch gefiedert”, Michael Buthe, Köln 1970 in der Galerie Möllendorf,
jedes der vier Fotos, 25, 8 x 38,8 cm, Archival Pigment Fine Art Print / Baryta

We are showing Michael Buthe’s timeless works – 2 watercolours, a painting and a pictorial object. Mostly, only remnants of his installations remain, and it feels futile to resurrect them without his presence. This is possibly where we find what is unique about Michael Buthe: many of his works do not LIVE without him. There are no paradisiacal states wihout people – this could be one of the messages of this exhibition.

Constanze Kleiner, Stephan von Wiese

Vernissage: Thursday, 26 November 2020, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., in compliance with the applicable hygiene and clearance rules

Exhibition dates: Friday, 27 November to Thursday, 31 December 2020 – ATTENTION: extended until Sunday, 28th February 2021

To the Gallery

 

 

Exhibition Michael Buthe – Paradise –  KLEINERVONWIESE | Zeitgenössische Kunst – Contemporary Art – Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin