Thomas Schutte - Hardcover

Schutte, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3980526763 ISBN 13: 9783980526760

Publisher: Sammlung Goetz, 2001

German artist Thomas Sch�tte (b.1954) is concerned with models for living, rules for making art and, in turn, the failed flights of these systems and aspirations. Sch�tte's art looks utilitarian - offering shelter, sustenance and companionship - but delivers false promises and alien worlds such as his museum that incinerates art, potatoes made of bronze and the artist's vision of humanity as tiny wooden audiences, two-headed hybrids or giant robotic figures.

Sch�tte's sculptures vary in scale from giant candy-coloured fruits to miniature fairy-tale buildings. The artist manipulates size, materials and subject matter with astounding versatility and dexterity, perpetually shifting scales so that the viewer is immersed in a series of poetic yet dysfunctional utopias. He has also constructed a series of architectural models of institutions and monuments whose eclectic array of building typologies suggest de Chirico-like metaphysical spaces.

Sch�tte's sculptures, installations, photographs and watercolours have been exhibited in museums and galleries as well as in public commissions throughout Europe and America. This book, which accompanied the first major survey of Sch�tte's work in Britain (Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1998) remains the essential monograph on the work of this enigmatic and extraordinary artist.

Julian Heynen, Director of Exhibitions at the Krefeld Art Museums, who curated Sch�tte's first museum exhibition in 1986, charts a topography of media and subject matter in the artist's work. James Lingwood, Co-Director of Artangel, London, and curator of the 1998 Sch�tte survey at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, speaks with the artist about the development of his practice and his relationship to European sculptural traditions in a German context. Italian art critic and curator Angela Vettese focuses on the artist's contribution to the 1997 Skulptur Projekte in Munster, Kirschensaule (Cherry Column). Sch�tte has selected a passage by the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca from 'De Vita Beata' on the paths of happiness. The artist's own writings are represented by a bedtime story, a fantastical allegory of the art world and its unexpected sequel.

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Review:

Thomas Schutte is a catalogue of works by this contemporary German artist. Schutte studied under Gerhard Richter, Benjamim Buchloh, and Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Dusseldorf Academy in the 1970s. He comes from this strong conceptual background but as his career matured the emotional content of his work evolved and became much more potent. Schutte's work is incredibly eclectic: Ceramic figures, architectural models, drawings, outdoor sculptures, photographs and installations. A recent work, Big Spirits (1996), is a collection of larger-than-life size aluminium figures that seem to be morphing before one's eyes. They are at once ghost, human and machine. Also incredibly riveting are The Innocents (1994), a series of photographs of the heads of handmade figurines, and United Enemies, A Play in Ten Scenes (1993)--offset lithographs, also of figurines wrapped in Schutte's clothes. His watercolours are beautiful, ranging from drawings of fruit to portraits of women. Whatever the project, Schutte is tapped in to a particular humanity.

Included in the book are essays by Julian Haynes, Angela Vettese, an interview with James Lingwood and an essay by the Roman philosopher Seneca, chosen by the artist. There is also a story by Schutte, printed in English for the first time. --Jennifer Cohen

Review:

"An illuminating book."―The Times

"A substantial monograph on one of Germany's most prominent artists."―The Art Book

On the Contemporary Artists Series

"The boldest, best executed, and most far-reaching publishing project devoted to contemporary art. These books will revolutionize the way contemporary art is presented and written about."―Artforum

"The combination of intelligent analysis, personal insight, useful facts and plentiful pictures is a superb format invaluable for specialists but also interesting for casual readers, it makes these books a must for the library of anyone who cares about contemporary art."―Time Out

"A unique series of informative monographs on individual artists."―The Sunday Times

"Gives the reader the impression of a personal encounter with the artists. Apart from the writing which is lucid and illuminating, it is undoubtedly the wealth of lavish illustrations which makes looking at these books a satisfying entertainment."―The Art Book

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