Bettina Pousttchi Directions
10 Sep—30 Oct 2021

Bettina Pousttchi Directions

10 Sep—30 Oct 2021
Buchmann Galerie
Press release

 

The Buchmann Galerie is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new work by Bettina Pousttchi for Gallery Weekend Berlin.

 

Following her exhibition In Recent Years (2019/20) at Berlinische Galerie, which provided a comprehensive overview of the artist’s sculptural and photographic work, the installation Panorama at KINDL's Kesselhaus (2019/20) and the large photographic installation Amplifier this summer on the main façade of Konzerthaus Berlin, the exhibition at the Buchmann Galerie focuses on new sculptures, wall reliefs and photographic works.

 

In the new works, Bettina Pousttchi deals with the objects and sign systems of the continually changing urban space as an environment for living.

 

Directions is the title of a new group of works by the artist that is the focus of the exhibition. It is a series of wall reliefs made out of cut and colour-coated steel, whose shape is derived from street signs in the form of arrows. These urban sign systems, which we often perceive only unconsciously, appear as if they have been cut out of their environment and placed in a new context of meaning. Mounted at a slight distance from the wall, the cut-out objects seem to float. Their sharp-edged form makes them oscillate between a kind of pictogram and graffiti. The regulative function of these signs and their influence on the movement of bodies in public space are called into question—a single direction is extended by multiple directions.

 

The Directions series continues the artist’s interest in the ordering structures placed in public space – as seen in other groups of works, including the sculpture series presented here Vertical Highways, which were shown for the first time at the Berlinische Galerie - Museum of Modern Art Berlin. The artist makes the sculptures from crash barriers, which she mechanically deforms and joins together to form upright works. The individual crash barriers remain recognizable even in their altered forms, and give an idea of the forces that have acted upon them. The anthropomorphic features and the monochrome colours merge the individual parts into a coherent new form. The vertical orientation of the normally horizontally crash barriers changes the usual spatial order and gives the sculptures an architectural reference. In the sequential use of the inceptive object lies a conceptual connection to Minimal Art and also a reference to the Readymades of Marcel Duchamp.

 

The photographic work Column shows in subtle contrasts the base of a monumental stone column almost life-size. As in her façade works, photography is used here on the scale of architecture. The work combines the artist’s interest in architectural structures, as seen in her photo installation Amplifier at the Konzerthaus Berlin this summer, with her independent photographic visual language. The placement of the elongated horizontal format on the floor and leaning against the wall gives the photograph the character of an installation.

In Paris in mid-October three sculptures from the Vertical Highways series will be presented prominently in the Jardin des Tuileries in front of the Musée du Louvre as part of the exhibition project Hors les Murs. A solo exhibition of Bettina Pousttchi’s work will open in December at the Arp Museum in Remagen near Bonn to mark the purchase and permanent installation of a group of the artist's sculptures on the banks of the Rhine.

 

For further information, please feel free to contact the gallery at any time.

 

The exhibition was supported by Stiftung Kunstfonds / Neustart Kultur.

 

Logo Stiftung Kunstfonds Logo Neustart Kultur

Bettina Pousttchi

Born 1971 in Mainz. Lives and works in Berlin.

Education
1999/2000 Whitney Independent Studio Program, Whitney Museum, New York
1995-1999 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (with Prof. Gerhard Merz and Prof. Rosemarie Trockel)
1992-1997 Studies in philosophy, art and film history, Universities of Cologne and Bochum
1990-1992 Studies in Fine Art, Université de Paris 
Grants and Awards
2016 Villa Aurora, Los Angeles

2014

Wolfsburg Art Award

2008

TrAIN Research Center for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation, University of the Arts, London
2007 BBAX - Berlin Buenos Aires Art Exchange, Buenos Aires
2005 Provinzial Förderprojekt
2000 Kunststiftung NRW

 

Solo Exhibitions

2024
2023
2022
2020
2015
2013
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

Group Exhibitions

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
Selected Collections

MoCA Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Washington DC

Nasher Sculpture Center Dallas

Margulies Collection Miami

Rennie Collection Vancouver

The Arts Club of Chicago

The Phillips Collection Washington DC

Freybe Collection Vancouver

Nasher Collection Dallas

Albertina Vienna

Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Modern Art Berlin

Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Hall Collection New York

Blake Byrne/Skylark Foundation Los Angeles

Levine Collection Washington DC

Wemhöner Collection Herford/Berlin

Kadist Collection Paris

Collection of the Federal Republic of Germany

University of Cologne

Von-der-Heydt Museum Wuppertal

Absolut Art Collection Stockholm

Wolfsburg City Art Gallery

MMAG Foundation Amman