Hauser & Wirth Zürich 11 June – 21 July 2012 Opening: Sunday 10 June 11 am – 5 pm
For its first exhibition back at the newly renovated Löwenbräu brewery building, Hauser & Wirth is proud to present 'Ovi Bimba', a major exhibition of important and rarely seen works by painter, sculptor, poet and Dada pioneer, Hans Arp. Curated by renowned Dada scholar Juri Steiner, 'Ovi Bimba' features over seventy works ranging from wood reliefs and collages to lithographs and bronze sculptures. The exhibition positions these diverse pieces alongside those of Arp's fellow artists, including his wife, Sophie Taeuber-Arp. In addition to providing a selective overview of Arp's enigmatic practice, 'Ovi Bimba' furthers the gallery's longstanding commitment to presenting museum-quality exhibitions of contemporary and modern masters.
Focusing his attention on everyday objects, Arp created his own unique 'object language' using a nonsensical vocabulary: plate, fork, knife, clock, tie, moustache, lips, breasts. With a playful hand he juggled the dominant art currents of the early 20th century, combining seemingly contradictory geometric and organic formal idioms with the artistic '-isms' of his epoch. 'Ovi Bimba' explores the development of Arp's 'object language', tracing the artist's practice from the first decade of the 20th century to the 1950s and focusing upon his time in Zurich where he co-founded the Dada movement in 1916.
Focusing his attention on everyday objects, Arp created his own unique 'object language' using a nonsensical vocabulary: plate, fork, knife, clock, tie, moustache, lips, breasts. With a playful hand he juggled the dominant art currents of the early 20th century, combining seemingly contradictory geometric and organic formal idioms with the artistic '-isms' of his epoch. 'Ovi Bimba' explores the development of Arp's 'object language', tracing the artist's practice from the first decade of the 20th century to the 1950s and focusing upon his time in Zurich where he co-founded the Dada movement in 1916.
In the 1930s, the Zurich-based art historian Carola Giedion-Welcker recognised the relevance of Arp's vision of nature, and saw in his works the 'invisible made visible, the search for a visual language capable of capturing the spiritual realms beyond the world of appearances'. Arp's innovative and influential practice prefigured the Fluxus movement, inspired artists such as Anthony Caro and Joan Miró, and made way for the great contemporary performance artists.
Born to a German father and a French mother in 1886, Arp studied briefly in Germany and Paris and then, just as World War I was beginning, moved to Switzerland where he played a crucial role in the beginnings of the Dada movement. Also known for his experimentation with Surrealism and Constructivism, Arp developed a multifaceted practice including painting, collage, sculpture, reliefs, print and poetry. Works by Arp are shown in numerous major institutions internationally, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York NY; Tate Modern, London, England; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco CA; and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC.
Juri Steiner is a Swiss-based art historian, freelance curator and expert on Dadaism. From 2007 to 2010, Steiner was director of Zentrum Paul Klee. Prior to this position, he co-curated the Swiss Pavilion at the World's Fair in Japan (2005); and oversaw the Arteplage mobile du Jura at the Swiss National Exposition, Expo.02 (2000 – 2002). Steiner has co-edited numerous exhibition catalogues and scholarly publications on classical, modern, and contemporary art and is a member of Swiss Television's Literaturclub and Sternstunde Philosophie.
Juri Steiner is a Swiss-based art historian, freelance curator and expert on Dadaism. From 2007 to 2010, Steiner was director of Zentrum Paul Klee. Prior to this position, he co-curated the Swiss Pavilion at the World's Fair in Japan (2005); and oversaw the Arteplage mobile du Jura at the Swiss National Exposition, Expo.02 (2000 – 2002). Steiner has co-edited numerous exhibition catalogues and scholarly publications on classical, modern, and contemporary art and is a member of Swiss Television's Literaturclub and Sternstunde Philosophie.
