One of the most prominent artists of his generation, Thomas Schüttes includes figurative and architectural works that often explore themes of historical memory, internal struggles, and the frequent struggle for an unattainable utopian ideal. Peter Freeman, Inc. is pleased to present a new work by German artist Thomas Schütte, his first solo exhibition of new work in New York in seven years.
Working over the past five decades from a personal archive of small figural sculptures and architectural models, Schütte experiments with materials and techniques to create new interpretations of evolving ideas. The space serves as an archive of Schüttes’ works and an exhibition space for other contemporary sculptors. A student of Gerhard Richter at the Art Academy Düsseldorf in the 1970s, Schütte was one of the few figurative artists of his time. A student of Fritz Schwegler and Gerhard Richter at the Art Academy Düsseldorf, Thomas Schutte developed a very versatile artistic practice in the early 1970s, starting with minimalism and conceptual art.
In this exhibition, Schütte created figures larger than life, explored the tradition of modernist figurative sculpture, embraced the twisted female body, and presented a distortion of the grotesque in large steel products and small ceramic drawings. From 1973 to 1981, Schütte studied art with Katharina Fritsch at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, under the tutelage of Gerhard Richter, Fritz Schwegler, Daniel Buren and Benjamin Buchloh. Old Friends displayed a set of 12 photographic portraits of figurines, sculpted by artists using colorful FIMO materials available in toy stores. Inspired by the ugly old men he saw on the bus during his six-month art residency in Rome, as well as the local politicians and art managers who didn’t get along there, Shute portrayed these figures. Clay, cover their bodies with sticks and paper, and cover them with scraps of his clothes.
From the first architectural models, buildings and utilitarian designs to hypothetical memorials and ironic monuments, to figurative works of the last one and a half decades, his very rich range of works for this exhibition focuses on the possibilities inherent in the representation of the figure. … A solo exhibition of his work is planned for this summer at the Art Museum of Winterthur, which opens in June, and then visits the Museum of Grenoble and K21, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. Often disturbing or uncomfortable, his sculptures feature distorted facial expressions and a vicious presence, exploring the role of artists in modern society.
In 2016, the artist held a large solo exhibition United Enemies at the Stockholms Moderna Museet, in the same year he opened the Sculpture Hall near Düsseldorf, an exhibition space for contemporary sculpture and a home for his work.
Thomas Schütte was born in 1954 in Oldenburg, Germany; lives and works in Dusseldorf. Schütte participated three times in the Documenta exhibition in Kassel; in 2005 he was awarded the Leone d’Oro Prize for Best Artist at the Venice Biennale. Men have also appeared in the sculptural heads of artists on numerous occasions, including in the 2006 Wichte (Dwarfs) series, in which eyeless authority figures are depicted in a group of glazed ceramic portraits that were individually created in an hour or less. His work is included in the permanent collections of major museums, including the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Key to it all, however, was a selection of more than 50 rarely shown sculptural models of Schütte, hand-crafted from 1973 to 2016, which served as the starting point for many of the works on display. Models for imaginary buildings have been part of Schüttes’ production from the very beginning of his career, but until recently they remained mostly fantasies and poetic reflections of the artist’s life and work.
His works have participated in document exhibitions many times and won the Golden Lion Award for Best Artist at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Her works explore the human condition, provide critical insights into social, cultural, and political issues, and visually eloquently comment on the hardships of memory, loss, and continuation of past memories. Among his classmates are many internationally renowned contemporary artists, including Thomas Raff (b.
These FIMO-modeled figures, dressed in scraps of fabric, were first conceived in 1992 when Schütte stayed in Rome after receiving a scholarship to live and work there. The Crystal, Schütte’s installation at Clark, is the artist’s first life-size architectural work in the United States. Using new approaches to traditional sculpture, Schütt explores the human form by presenting the figure in a series of anti-heroic poses. It was also a year of political turmoil in Italy, with social criticism and satire on the agenda.
Schütte arrived at the unusual asymmetrical shape of the Crystal, presenting a small piece of crystal reduced to architectural proportions. The Man Without a Face (2018) is Schütte’s first work to be included in the Gallerie collection. The artist took a closer look at classical sculpture and was fascinated by the portrait busts of Roman emperors kept in the Capitoline Museum. In contrast, the tightly tied rope that ties them together has crisp details, focusing attention on the shapes and our eyes.
With typical ingenuity, Schütte took a conventional form and made it relevant. While his works do not always represent a recognizable narrative, they show concern for the human figure and condition.
The exhibition consists of three thematically organized parts and includes a presentation of several major series, including United Enemies, the Aluminum Frau and Vater Staat series, as well as many unpublished works.
A Man Without a Face (2018) is Schutte’s first work to be included in the Gallerys collection. Using new approaches to traditional sculpture, Schuttes explores the human form by presenting the figure in several anti-heroic positions. Inspired by the ugly old people he saw driving the bus during his six-month art residency in Rome, as well as local politicians and art administrators who didn’t get along well when he was there, Schutte sculpted the heads of clay figures. , their bodies with sticks and paper, and clothed them with the remains of his clothes.
Schütte then developed these first astonishing explorations of the expressive potential of figurative sculpture into a series of small aluminum figures cast from wax moulds. For this exhibition, Schütte created larger-than-life-size figures that explored the tradition of modernist figurative sculpture, embracing the distorted female body and presenting a twist towards the grotesque in large steelwork and small ceramic sketches. These simulated FIMO figures dressed in scraps of fabric were first conceived in 1992 when Schutte stayed in Rome after receiving a scholarship to live and work there. The artist observed classical sculpture and was fascinated by the portrait busts of Roman emperors kept in the Capitoline Museum.
The exhibition, titled “They and We,” featured works that resulted from an ongoing debate between the two artists on some of the most important sculptural issues, such as the relationship between man and monument, scale and space. Men have also made repeated appearances in the sculptural heads of artists, including in the 2006 series Wichte (Gnomes), in which eyeless authority figures are depicted in a group of glazed ceramic portraits that were individually sculpted in about an hour or less. Old Friends is an eerie group of twelve photographic portraits of small figures whose heads were sculpted by the artist from the colorful FIMO modeling compound sold in toy stores.
Festive in its beauty, with a broad but delicate rendering, the depiction of flowers recalls the traditions of art in order to represent the subtleties of image and memory. In contrast, the tightly tied rope that ties them together is clearly detailed, drawing attention to the figures and our eyes. Schütte simply does justice to the appearance of objects, giving not weight to them, but their very presence.
Schütte transfers them from where they are, to the streets of Leidstadt, the city of flour, to the space of art, where the appearance of a thing is the thing itself, as it appears in this form, in such a structure, in this model or model. and in that figure or drawing. However, where minimalist puritanical pragmatism has created a void around his art, Schütte fills this void with traces of the gifts of existence. Schütte the artist rejects the guilt deposited in and on objects under different aesthetic formulas (kitsch, surrealism, irony, camp, pop, postmodern), through which our culture has realized and is aware of its own deformations and deformities (guilt as a deformation of the alleged innocence lost). In fact, Schütte watched pop art closely and respected his focus on the aggressiveness of everyday objects in modern vision.
Schütte is an almost pre-verbal artist, he utters words that neither explain nor permit. His sculptures, often disturbing or uncomfortable, feature distorted expressions and a vicious presence, exploring the role of artists in modern society.
Models of imaginary buildings have been a part of Schuttes’ production since the beginning of his career, but until recently they have remained mostly imaginary and poetic reflections of the artist’s life and work.
The space serves as an archive of Schuttes’ work and an exhibition space for other contemporary sculptors. The Crystal, Schutts’ site-specific installation at Clark, is the first life-size architectural work of art created by artists in the United States. Many of his models were built in life size, such as the Crystal II in the Salon Dupre, a meditation house that a visitor can enter.
From the first architectural models, structures and utilitarian designs to hypothetical memorials and ironic monuments, right up to figurative works of the last one and a half decades, his rich range of work concentrates his attention for this exhibition on the possibilities inherent in the representation of the figure.
A solo exhibition of his work will take place this summer at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, which will open in June and later at the Museum of Grenoble and K21, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf. His work has been featured in numerous Documenta exhibitions, and in 2005 he was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the Venice Biennale. The sculptures, widely recognized as defining the careers of Schuttes and other Grosser Geists, are now in the permanent collections of several major museums, including the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Wolfsburg Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago, the Beyeler Foundation in Zurich and the San Francisco A monumental interpretation of the human form curving upward towards the sky, Grosser Geist Nr.
Thomas Schutte (born November 16, 1954) is a contemporary German artist. From 1973 to 1981 Schutte studied art at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf with Katharina Fritsch under Gerhard Richter, Fritz Schwegler, Daniel Buren and Benjamin Buchlo. A student of Gerhard Richter at the Art Academy of Düsseldorf in the 1970s, Schütte was one of the few artists of his time to pursue the visual arts.
Thomas Schutte studied at the Kunst Academy Düsseldorf, where he studied with artists and art historians such as Gerhard Richter, Daniel Buren and Benjamin Buchloh. Schutte learned from some of the most prominent and innovative artists of the 20th century, most notably Gerhard Richter, Günther Uecker and Blinka Palermo at the Kunst Academy Düsseldorf in the 1970s, who helped contemporary art transcend a generation Man’s primary minimalist and conceptual interest. . . For the past five years, Schütte has worked from a personal archive of small figurative sculptures and architectural models, experimenting with materials and techniques, creating new ones for evolving ideas explain. Influenced by minimalism and conceptual art as well as music, theatrical design and classical sculpture, Schuttes’ installations, sculptures, prints, drawings and watercolors take on varied and often contradictory forms.
Key to it all, however, was a selection of over 50 rarely-displayed sculptural models handcrafted by Schuttes between 1973 and 2016, which served as the starting point for many of the works on display.
Old Friends Revisited brings together a collection of works created by the artist in his Düsseldorf studio in 2021. Among his classmates are many of today’s internationally renowned artists, including Thomas Ruff (b.
With typical ingenuity, Schütte took the usual form and made it relevant. Schutte opens up inhospitable architecture for a playful and fantastically practical embodiment. It’s about designing and building independent and compelling work.
What do you think of the works of Thomas Schütte?
Use the form below to say your opinion about Thomas Schütte. All opinions are welcome!