Allen Ruppersberg to Solo at the Camden Arts Centre

Wednesday, 13 August 2008 23:12

London - Allen Ruppersberg’s first solo show in a public gallery transforms Camden Arts Centre’s Gallery 3 with a new project based on 'Literatura de Cordel’ – pamphlets produced by travelling poets and writers in Brazil. ‘Literatura de Cordel’ roughly translates as ‘Stories on a String’, these simply made booklets contain folk stories, poems and songs and are illustrated with wood cuts. On exhibition 26 September – 23 November 2008.

It coincides with an exhibition at Camden Arts Centre by the ‘father’ of Californian assemblage, Wallace Berman (1926 – 1976), who was a huge influence on Ruppersberg as well as other artists and poets emerging from the legacy of the Beat generation in the 1960s.

For this exhibition Ruppersberg has produced his own versions of 'Literatura de Cordels' containing text and images from his extensive collections as well as Camden Art Centre’s archive. These pamphlets are hung from the ceiling over a red, black and white floor piece – Reading Standing Up (2004). The text in the floor is made up of oppositions – us/them, left/right, text/margin, Italy/France, compelling the viewer to read aloud and form their own rhythm and sounds.  Together Ruppersberg’s interventions transform Gallery 3 into a room for reading, recalling Camden Art Centre’s former life as a library. Funded by Arts Council England, Camden Council and the Clore Duffield Foundation

Ruppersberg began as a painter but abandoned oil and canvas in favour of language, pictures, books and ideas. He has collected thousands of books, postcards, photographs, magazines, slides, posters, as well as industrial and educational films from 1931-1967. These materials, mostly items from American popular culture of the mid 20th century, serve as source material in Ruppersberg’s work and reflect his interest in the cultural mythologies, narratives, and common truths of everyday life. ‘My art is about what is common and particular to everyone.’ Allen Ruppersberg

The Allen Ruppersberg and Wallace Berman exhibitions continue Camden Arts Centre’s interest in bringing the work and influence of more established artists to wider attention and introducing artists to new audiences.

Allen Ruppersberg was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1944 and graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (Cal Arts) in 1967. He has had numerous solo exhibitions including Alterations, Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Antwerp, Belgium (2007); One of Many – Origins and Variants, l’Institut d’Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, France, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Sevilla, Spain, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (2006 – 2005); Free/Trade Art and Poetry, greengrassi, London (2005); The Singing Posters Parts II & III, Jürgen Becker Gallery, Karin Guenther Galerie, Hamburg, Germany (2005); The New Five Foot Shelf, De Hallen, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands (2004); The Singing Posters, Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy, Gorney Bravin + Lee, New York, NY, Art & Public, Geneva (2003) and has been included in many significant group exhibitions for example, L.A. – Paris – 1955 – 1985, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou Paris (2006); 8 Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon (2005) and The Last Picture Show, Artists using Photography, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA (2003).

Camden Arts Centre is a venue for contemporary visual art and education, where ideas are made visible and people of all ages and abilities can engage in the creative process of making art.  Our pioneering and varied programme of artist-led courses and other education activities has gained an international reputation as a model of good practice.  We are known as a forward-thinking organisation where artists and others can see, make and talk about art.
 Visit Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Road, London NW3 6DG : www.camdenartscentre.org

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