Anna & Bernhard Blume Im Wald
24 Jan—8 Mar 2014

Anna & Bernhard Blume Im Wald

24 Jan—8 Mar 2014
Buchmann Galerie
Press release

The Buchmann Galerie is delighted to announce a solo show with works by Anna & Bernhard Blume.

 

The large-format photo sequence shows works from the series Im Wald (In the Forest), which was created between 1982 and 1991 and which until now has only rarely been shown as a complete sequence. Im Wald is considered one of the couple’s central works and it occupies a special position in their oeuvre, as it was the first and only time that the artists moved the locus to an outside setting. Thematically, the sequence is closely linked to several of their other photo sequences, as it also focuses on the ironic depiction of habits and rituals.

 

The bourgeois couple enjoying a Sunday walk – she is wearing a dress with a floral pattern, he has on a checked jacket – are portrayed by the artists themselves. In a relaxed Sunday mood they look down from a Black Forest slopeand do not seem to realise that the picture of nature in their minds no longer matches the reality around them. Instead of pristine woodlands, they are standing in a patch of forest surrounded by trees stripped of their leaves by the acid rain.

 

“On a symbolic level, the forest pictures can be read as the collapse of our idealising concept of nature” (Bazon Brock, in: Anna & Bernhard Blume. Fotoarbeiten und Großfotoserien, Volume III, p 157. Published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 1995). In later works in this series, the Blumes interact with trees in a similar way to their interaction with objects in other sequences. They hang from the branches, wedge themselves between the trunks or hug the trees in an ecstatic embrace. This “renaturation ecstasy” (B. Blume) humorously and ironically depicts the desire to become one with nature.

 

The Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin is currently showing installations and photos by Anna & Bernhard Blume that were recently acquired for the collection. Additionally, the show lens-based sculpture at the Akademie der Künste Berlinincludes large-format photos by Anna & Bernhard Blume. For more information about the artists and for images please contact the gallery.

Anna & Bernhard Blume

Anna Blume

Born 1937 in Bork/ Westfalen. Died 2020 in Cologne.

 

Bernhard Johannes Blume

Born 1937 in Dortmund. Died 2011 in Cologne.

Education

Anna Blume

1960 - 1965 Studied art at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
1966 - 1986   Taught art at various schools in Dusseldorf and Cologne

 

Bernhard Johannes Blume

1960 - 1965 Studied art at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
1967 - 1971 Studied philosophy at Universität Köln
1971 - 1986 Taught art and philosophy at a grammar school in Cologne
1987 - 2011 Professor of Fine and Applied Arts at Hochschule für Bildende Künste HfbK Hamburg

Grants and Awards

2000 “Berliner Kunstpreis - Jubiläumsstiftung 1814/1948”, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
1988 Erster Kölner Video-Kunst-Preis
1987 Kunstpreis der Glockengasse, Köln

Solo Exhibitions

2017
2016
2015
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1984
1982

Group Exhibitions

2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1992
1991
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1980
1977
Selected Collections
Germany
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Art Collection Deutsche Börse
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn
Museum Ostwall, Dortmund
MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg
Kunstpalais Erlangen, Erlangen
Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), Frankfurt/Main
Hamburger Kunsthalle
Sprengel Museum, Hannover
ZKM Karlsruhe
Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (GfZK), Leipzig
Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach
 
Austria
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK), Vienna
 
Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
 
France
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
FRAC - Basse-Normandie, Caen
 
Switzerland
Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur
 
USA
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA