Art Basel Miami Beach 2018Kabinett

Helmut Federle

EArly Works1980-1985

Helmut Federle

Art Basel Miami Beach 2018Kabinett

EArly Works1980-1985

1980acrylic, pencil on corrugated board

24 1∕4 × 12 1∕2 in. (61,5 × 32 cm)

Two Heart Flames, N.y.C., Feb. 80

1983ink, felt pen, whiteout on paper

11 1∕4 × 8 1∕4 in. (28,6 × 21 cm)

Vor Entsetzen schreiende Frau

[Wom

an s

crea

min

g in

Hor

ror]

1984pencil on paper

11 1∕4 × 8 1∕4 in. (28,7 × 21 cm)

3 Frauen, Zeichnung zu Bild Trois Femmes Fidèles

[Thr

ee W

omen

, Dra

win

g fo

r th

e P

aint

ing

Tro

is F

emm

es F

idèl

es]

1983/84oil on canvas

16 1∕3 × 13 in. (41,5 × 33 cm)

körper und linie

[Bod

y an

d l

ine]

1983ballpoint pen on paper

11 1∕4 × 8 1∕4 in. (28,7 × 21 cm)

M+ F Two of a differnt kind; Being the same

1983pencil, ballpoint pen on paper11 3∕4 × 8 1∕4 in. (29,8 × 21 cm)

Frau mit Pudel (Poodle) + kind (ungeboren) bei Vollmond, Chur, 4. Mai 1983, (The Death of the love, to N.)

[Wom

an w

ith P

ood

le +

Chi

ld (

unb

orn)

at F

ull M

oon]

1980pencil, crayon on paper

8 1∕2 × 11 in. (21,5 × 27,8 cm)

A City at the sea, Mai 80

1984pencil, colored pencil on paper

10 1∕4 × 7 in. (26 × 18 cm)

1980ballpoint pen, colored pencil on paper10 × 7 1∕4 in. (25,2 × 18,3 cm)

Gewundene Form mit rotem Winkel (T) (M/F) oriental Economist (stein)

[sp

iral F

orm

with

red

Ang

le]

[orie

ntal

Eco

nom

ist (

sto

ne)]

1982ballpoint pen, pencil, ink on paper

8 × 10 in. (20,3 × 25,4 cm)

konstallation am 17.12.82 von drei Personen

[Con

stal

latio

n on

12/

17/1

982

of T

hree

Per

sons

]

1982arylic on paper

10 1∕2 × 16 in. (26,5 × 40,8 cm)

3 stühle & 1 Grab, N.y.C., Dec. 82

[3 C

hairs

& 1

Tom

b]

1982pencil, felt pen, ballpoint pen on paper

10 × 7 3∕8 in. (25,5 × 18,7 cm)

Person des lichts

[Per

son

of l

ight

]

Untitled, N.y.C., 80

1980acrylic on corrugated board

24 × 18 in. (61 × 45,7 cm)

1981pencil, colored pencil on paper

11 × 8 1∕2 in. (28 × 21,5 cm)

ohne Titel. For David Byrne and David smith

1982ballpoint pen, felt pen, colored pencil on paper11 × 8 1∕2 in. (28 × 21,5 cm)

Der Fuchs heult + die Bäuerin sucht ihn

[The

Fox

How

ls +

the

Farm

er's

Wife

loo

ks fo

r H

im]

[Unt

itled

] Fo

r D

avid

Byr

ne a

nd D

avis

sm

ith

1980pencil, whiteout on paper

10 1∕2 × 8 1∕4 in. (26,5 × 21 cm)

Iran Teppich, bevor the revolution (Entwurf für einen Teppich)

[Ira

n C

arp

et, b

efor

e th

e r

evol

utio

n (D

raft

for

a C

arp

et)]

1982felt pen on paper

11 1∕2 × 8 1∕4 in. (29,2 × 21 cm)

Untitled

1985oil on canvas

17 3∕4 × 21 5∕8 in. (45 × 55 cm)

Untitled

1981felt pen on paper

11 1∕4 × 8 1∕4 in. (28,6 × 21 cm)

Zeichen der neuen ordnung

[sig

ns o

f the

New

ord

er]

1982felt pen on paper

11 5∕8 × 8 1∕4 in. (29,5 × 21 cm)

Endless Turn

“When somebody undertakes a journey, when somebody sets off to see the world and returns a changed person, when somebody is more at home abroad than at home, he is then often viewed with suspicion by the stay-at-homes. Whoever travels much can lose the sense of belonging on account of this factual and figurative mobility. This could particularly apply to Helmut Federle. He has not only left the distinct-ness of a place, but also the affiliation to a clan, a group, a school to a specific direction and opinion. However, in turn, he has gained freedom and independence, and that is especially what characterizes him as an artist.”This statement about Helmut Federle, from an essay by Fanni Fetzer (kunstmuseum luzern, 2012), could have been written already at the beginning of the 1980s.

Federle’s life has been characterized by countless excursions outside the art world and the constant encounter with foreign cultures. It is the life of a seeker. “The restlessness,” he says, “is part of the magic.” North African culture, the Us, and Far Eastern philosophy – “in my life there are these three strands of cultural character,” says the artist – “they are anything but homogeneous. I can unite them in me, but I cannot bring them to coincide.” If one understands Federle’s works as an expression of such a broad existence, then the tension of his practice is almost self-explanatory – as is the search for a center and balance, which becomes noticeable in them.

Between 1979 and 1983, he realized four major paintings in New york, together with small pictures and important abstract works on paper. The drawings are not sketches but stand as works in and of them-selves. Partly, they are derived from travels across the United states and Canada, yet they are not a direct derivation of travel experiences, but rather climatic notes. something searching can be detected, along with the use of a constructivist vocabulary in a surreal or spun manner.

HElMUT FEDErlE

sometimes poems pop up. Helmut Federle’s “thinking drawing tech-nique” is autonomous.sometimes an A4 paper format is used as a template for his artistic expression, or cardboards are picked up from the street. This mani-fests an attitude of under no circumstances operating with an effort and of not falling into the cliché role of an artist. Deliberately, he does not have a systematic daily work routine in his studio.

In 1985, Helmut Federle’s seminal text about drawing, “Über Masse und Ausdehnung in der Zeichnung” (About Mass and Extension in Drawing), was published. In it, Federle writes the following:“In my opinion, drawing is better suited than any other media for tracing and exploring ideas that are like notes. It is perhaps best comparable to writing. Drawing connects and links fields of energy in a confined space in a way that is direct, with little control from the ‘outside’ and without consideration for the picture support and its own value. (…) What is fast, direct, an instrument of the soul and the mind through the wielding of the wrist, crystalline, sketched – all this possesses an authenticity based on an immediate assumption.”

The work of the new order is in a floating state, a restless balance that needs to be renegotiated at any given moment. Federle operates “climatically, not geometrically.” He works from his own person and his personal horizon of experience, the cultural space in the broadest sense, large cities, landscapes, non-European civilizations or rock culture. He has a great deal of skepticism and rejection towards ide ologies and understandings. The creation of art is an existential matter and a philosophical question. By repeatedly working with the letters of his own name, H and F, he “literally” and discreetly places his life and person in his abstract images.

robert Fleck

MUsEUM ExHIBITIoNs (sElECTIoN) Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Basel kunsthalle Zurich Moderna Museet, stockholm Fridericianum, kassel Galerie national du Jeu de Paume, Paris kunstmuseum Bonn IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nanteskunsthaus Bregenz kunstmuseum luzern Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, lisbonFundación Bancaja, ValenciaModerna Museet stockholmMusée de GrenobleHaags Gemeentemuseum, The HagueMuseum Haus lange, krefeld

starting in May 2019, the kunstmuseum Basel will be presenting the solo exhibition “19 E. 21 sT., 6 lArGE PAINTINGs” by Helmut Federle, which will continue during Art Basel

Helmut Federle was born in 1944 in solothurn, switzerland and currently lives and works in Vienna, Austria and Camaiore, Italy.

From1999 to 2007 he was Professor at the kunstakademie Dusseldorf, Germany.

In 1997, he represented switzerland at the 47th Venice Biennale.

He received the Prix Aurelie Nemours in 2008 and the ricola Prize in 2016.

since 1984 Helmut Federle is represented by

GAlErIE NÄCHsT sT. sTEPHAN rosEMArIE sCHWArZWÄlDErGrünangergasse 1, 1010 Vienna/Austria, www.schwarzwaelder.atContact: pekerman@schwarzwaelder.at

robert Fleck, born 1957 in Vienna, Austria moved to France in 1980. From 2000 to 2012, he was the director first of the Academy of Art in Nantes, then of the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, and finally the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. In 2012, he became Professor of Art and the Public sphere and vice-president of the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf.

Design: karin Plattner | © Pro litteris | Photos © Markus Wörgötter

Helmut Federle, 1980 in his studio 19 E. 21 st., New yorkPhoto: Hans-Peter Vögtlin, Therwil