John Armleder : Retrospective at ICA on 9 September

Tuesday, 18 July 2006 12:08

Philadelphia, PA - An retrospective of 400-500 drawings spanning the years 1964-2004 by Swiss artist John Armleder, this exhibition presents an expansive and experimental view of drawing itself.  Selected from private collections and from the artist's studio are works in pen and ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil and collage on paper, as well as original books and a special edition of wallpaper created especially for the exhibition.  Installed by the artist at ICA, this exhibition exists as a work in its own right temporary and site specific.

John Armleder (b. 1948, Geneva, Switzerland, lives Geneva) is a performance artist, sculptor, and painter, whose multi-faceted activities are connected by drawing.  Affiliated with Fluxus in the late 1960s and 1970s, the value of ephemerality and notion that art is the conduction of creative energy are imperative to his work.  During the 1980s, his "furniture sculpture" was highly visible within the context of "New Geometry" or "Neo Geo".  John Armleder is widely known and respected as the co-founder of the group Ecart, which has been endorsing the work of artists (Christian Marclay and Karen Kilminik among them) since the 1970s through its publications and exhibitions.

This is the first major exhibition of John Armleder's work in the United States.  A highly influential, established figure within the international community, Armleder's work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe.  And although he is partially based in New York, his art and reputation are under-recognized in America.

This exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Zurich, which presented a survey of the artist's drawings in fall 2004.  The installation has been modified by Kunsthalle curator Beatrix Ruf in association with the artist and ICA Director Claudia Gould for its presentation at ICA.  The exhibition will be accompanied by an English addition catalog of the Kunstall Zurich book.  Exhibition dates September 9-December 17, 2006.