Munich; new exhibition at Kunstverein “Ger van Elk”
by Venetia Kapernekas
27 June 2014-31 August 2014
A beautiful exhibition just opened in Kunstverein, “Ger Van Elk” curated by Bart van der Heide, director of the Munich kunstverein, the first institutional solo exhibition by Ger Van Elk, outside of the Netherlands since 1988, presenting the artist’s most recent work as well as rarely seen historic pieces from his own private collection,
…This exhibition will feature recent work alongside a selection of historic pieces from the artist’s own private collection. Van Elk is one of the few Dutch artists who were active in the defining stages of an international generation of artists in the 1960’s. During this time he took part in seminal group shows such as ‘When Attitudes Become Form’ (1969) and ‘Op Losse Schroeven’ (1969); two exhibitions that in retrospect featured a first identification of Conceptual Art. While simultaneously maintaining close relationships with artists such as Piero Gilardi or Gilbert and George, his early work embodies a fluid response to diverse conceptual art practices that were yet to be defined. However in contrast to the works of his contemporaries, Van Elk never committed his practice to a singular classification under Pop-Art, Arte Povera or others, and instead developed a formal practice that was re-negotiated, and even contradicted, with every new situation in which his work was produced. (Kunstverein’s press release)
VK 