Fuentes
Non-European influences on contemporary fine arts
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Salzburg, 5th to 29th March 2009
The official exhibition accompanying the first Salzburg Biennale will be devised by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and held in its own rooms as well as at other exhibition sites in Salzburg.
In its first year the Salzburg Biennale will focus on four composers whose works are strongly influenced by non-European cultures. In parallel, the exhibition will present artists whose works explicitly refer to non-European influences or the art of past centuries. The exhibition will juxtapose works by contemporary artists with non-European works of art: from African sculptures to Japanese woodcuts and objects from India.
Works by Georg Baselitz will be a special focal point; his internationally known Africa collection forms an important reference point in his oeuvre. African as well as many other non-European and European cultures are also important sources for the work of the Swiss artist Not Vital.
Portrait Baselitz mit Ahnenkopf Niombo der Bwende, Unterer Kongo. Foto B. Katz
Works by Wolfgang Laib—who lives partly in India, partly in his German home region Baden-Württemberg—will be juxtaposed with objects from India in the exhibition. The pictures by Philipp Taaffe and Francesco Clemente also relate to Indian and other Asian cultures. For Taaffe, ornamentation is an important source of inspiration, whereas Clemente intensively deals with the aesthetics of images of Indian saints. In the exhibition, he will show his works alongside a group of drawings from Acharay Vyakul (1939-2000).
The Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), who became famous especially through his woodcuts, is one of the most important influences on the painting of the American artist Alex Katz.
Alex Katz, Homage to Utamaro, 2007. Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. Private collection Sao Paolo
In the work of Philippe Bradshaw, one can also find references to a Japanese artist: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). In order to be able to visualize these sources of inspiration, we are particularly happy that the Albertina in Vienna has already agreed to lend works by Utamaro and Hokusai.
"Melancholie" by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) – one of the most important prints in the history of art – is an important source of inspiration in the work of Anselm Kiefer. In the exhibition, works by Dürer and by Kiefer will be juxtaposed for the first time.
Kiefer, Melancholia, 2006. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Albrecht Dürer, Die Melancholie, 1514
The exhibition aims to dedicate a room to each artist and contrast his works with objects from non-European civilisations. The intention is to reveal important references of a work, thus making it possible to see them in a new light.
Afrikanische Figar der Sammlung Baselitz. Nyamwezi, Tansania. Foto: Bernd-Peter Keiser
Thaddaeus Ropac
Dr. Lena Maculan