While in Düsseldorf this summer I visited the brilliant art gallery Kunstsammlung. I had seen posters advertising an exhibition for Hans-Peter Feldmann and thought that the photograph on the poster looked interesting so decided to take a look and how glad I am that I did (just shows what a sucker I am to the power of advertising, one pretty image and I'm there), it was one of the most interesting and fun exhibitions that I have ever been to.
It is difficult to categorise the German artist Feldman, from his intriguing photograph installation with 101 photographs of different men and women from the age of a new born baby to one hundred years old - one photograph for every year, depicting the gradual development of growth and age; to his diligently arranged vintage toys, lights and wires revolving on turn-tables to cast eerily beautiful shadows on the walls of the gallery, Feldmann interests and provokes thought at every turn.
What I loved about the exhibition most was the sense of fun it had. Too many artists try and make a point about modern society while taking themselves far too seriously. Here Feldmann, with his collections of magazine cuttings, photographs and other random objects, reminded me of the childish continuation of everyday life. He pokes fun at us without being patronising. Where the brash colours should have been overwhelming, they are a reminder of the excessiveness of Feldmann and add to the ampleness of his images of the banal and mundane objects.
All in all I felt the exhibition was a wonderful insight to the mind and a man and his obsession of collecting and hording the objects around him. His art which is effectively just a documentation of his collection has made me see the beauty and art to be found everyday and that art is not necessarily an entirely serious pursuit.
No comments:
Post a Comment