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fevereiro 20, 2013
auch heute no Kunstsaele Berlin
auch heute, Kunstsaele Berlin, Alemanha - 23/02/2013 a 13/04/2013
When simple, reduced works come together in an exhibition, their characteristics inevitably relate to one another. Surface to surface. Horizontal to horizontal. Red to red. Neon to neon. Light to light. Dark to dark. One form is emphasized in contrast to the others. Through conversation with the other surfaces, one becomes visible in its uniqueness.
“auch heute” is structured by simple formal correspondences and “family resemblances” without common denominators. The series of clear horizontal forms links Judd to Bernshouse. To Antonakos, however, he is linked through the hue: a pure, distinctive red.
In addition, a few basic opposites are focused upon: light/dark, object/image, horizontal/vertical etc. Dieter Kieg's straight dark fluorescent tube on a light ground relates to Sandra Peters' curved light fluorescent tubes. One, painted on a glossy wax cloth, is displayed in a brightly lit room, while the others are shown in a darker, more traditional space.
“auch heute” links known positions with those that are widely unknown, positions that are tried and tested with those that are fledgling, and those that are canonical with ones that are forgotten. Some of these positions, when put together, form important lines of development. Others get left out: an “art history without names”. In 1967 an important “minimalist” work by Donald Bernshouse (“Unititled”) was shown together with works by Flavin, Judd, de Maria, Morris and LeWitt.
In 1968 the work made an entrance in “Minimal Art. A Critical Anthology”. Edited by Gregory Battcock, the book was an early attempt at a canon formation. However, “Untitled” was soon forgotten and became lost with time. Bernshouse moved back to Hawaii. Others formed the canon. “auch heute” shows a new, site-specific variation of the work, a good 46 years after its last presentation in New York.
As an exhibition unfolds, the works in it form a context, which displays formal correspondences without obscuring the contrasts. ...which shows formal correspondences in order to highlight the contrasts between them. In the end there are only a few things that matter, and we put trust in the fact that sometimes that is enough.