KRIWET, Neon Text 2, 1973, high-voltage fluorescent tubes, anodized aluminium, perspex glass, 79 2/5 x 40 x 9 4/5".
KUNSTHALLE DÜSSELDORF
DÜSSELDORF
Through June 1
Curated by Gregor Jansen
As
Ferdinand Kriwet has often made clear, processes of reception rarely
play themselves out in linear form. So perhaps it is fitting that the
artist (known since the 1960s as KRIWET) would receive a major
institutional retrospective in his hometown only after numerous
substantial showings elsewhere. A pioneer of new-media art, this
self-described concrete poet quickly expanded his range to involve
explosive mixed-media image-sound collages in the public sphere
utilizing mass-culture outlets ranging from wall painting, signage, and
spoken word to radio, TV, and film. In Düsseldorf, a selection of 150
works—from his earliest to several new commissions—will thematize the
acts of seeing and hearing. The accompanying catalogue will be the first
to address the full reach of this multifaceted oeuvre.
Translated from German by Oliver E. Dryfuss.
