Opening: Tuesday, 15th May 2007, 7-9pm
Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present the photographic
series EQUILIBRES by Peter Fischli and David Weiss at their Munich Gallery.
In their work, the artists employ a wide variety of artistic means of
expression, ranging from film, photography and artists’ books to sculptures and
multimedia installations. They adapt everyday objects and situations which they
place – not without humour or irony – in an artistic context, thus raising
philosophical and theoretical questions regarding the explanation of the world.
The photographs EQUILIBRES were created in the years 1984 and 1986. It is a
series of 82 black-and-white and colour photographs showing assemblages of
everyday objects. The attention is drawn to a dizzying construction, with
gravity seemingly working in reverse, creating a state of suspension which
cancels the weight and the value of the individual components. This is also
summarized in the subheading of the EQUILIBRES of Peter Fischli and David
Weiss: „Am schönsten ist das Gleichgewicht, kurz bevor’s zusammenbricht.“
(„Balance is most beautiful just before it collapses.“)
Precarious and often on the verge of collapse, the photographs with their
suggestive titles are reminiscent of thought experiments and evoke the familiar
Surrealist image of the „chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella
on a dissection table“ (Lautréamont). The titles alternately function as
accurate summaries of the sculptural situation, as in the case of the
SCHLUMMERSCHLINGE (SLUMBER SNARE) or as anecdotic descriptions.
In their new EQUILIBRES artists’ book, Peter Fischli and David Weiss have often
assigned different titles to one and the same motif.
A smaller selection of the EQUILIBRES was presented for the first time in 1985
in the exhibition STILLER NACHMITTAG (QUIET AFTERNOON) at Monika Sprüth Gallery
in Cologne, at the Kunsthalle Basel and at the Groningen Museum, accompanied by
the artists’ book of the same title.
Peter Fischli (b. 1952) and David Weiss (b. 1946) live and work in Zurich. They
became internationally known through their film DER LAUF DER DINGE (THE WAY
THINGS GO) which was shown at the DOCUMENTA in Kassel in 1987. Peter Fischli
and David Weiss have represented Switzerland in numerous international
exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and were awarded the Golden Lion in
2003.
Their large retrospective FLOWERS & QUESTIONS was first shown at the Tate
Modern in London in Autumn 2006 and travelled afterwards to the Musée d‘Art
Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Kunsthalle Zürich and the Deichtorhallen
Hamburg.
Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers
Schellingstrasse 48
D-80799 München
Office Hours
Monday - Friday, 9am - 6pm
Viewing Hours
Tuesday - Friday, 11am - 2pm and 3pm - 6pm
Saturday 11am 2pm
