John Armleder (born 1948, in
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
) is a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
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Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internationa ...
performance artist, painter, sculptor, critic, and curator. His work is based on his involvement with
Fluxus
Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
in the 1960s and 1970s, when he created
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
pieces, installations and collective art activities that were strongly influenced by
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fig ...
. However, Armleder's position throughout his career has been to avoid associating his artistic practice with any type of manifesto.
Early life and education
Armleder was born as the son of a hotelier (owners of
Le Richemond). He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
Geneva (1966-7) and at the Glamorgan Summer School, Britain (1969).
Work
In 1969, with Patrick Lucchini and Claude Rychner, Armleder founded the ''Groupe Ecart'' in
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
, from which stemmed the Galerie Ecart and its associated performance group and publications.
The ''Groupe Ecart'' was particularly important in
Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, not only through its activity as an independent publishing house, but also because it introduced in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
—and sometimes in Europe—a large number of notable artists, including
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art move ...
and
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
. Armleder was later associated with the ''
Neo-Geo'' artistic movement in the 1980s.
[ Bovier, Lionel; Radzinowicz, David; ''John Armleder''; Paris : Flammarion; New York : Rizzoli International Publications, 2005. ]
Armleder frequently examines the context in which art is displayed and views the exhibition as a medium in its own right. Since the 1990s, he has created installations, paintings, wall paintings, sculptures and what he calls ''Furniture Sculptures''—installations that usually juxtapose furniture with monochrome or abstract paintings, either literally on the furniture or on a canvas hanging nearby.
His work has varied greatly in form, and has, since the beginning, used
chance as a method of producing the final forms that pieces take, much like
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fig ...
. He often uses a dense scenographic hanging style, putting individual works into close proximity and creating installation-like exhibitions.
Exhibitions
In 1986, Armleder represented Switzerland in the Venice Biennale.
In 2004, a retrospective exhibition of his works on paper was shown at the
Kunsthalle Zürich
The Kunsthalle Zürich is a contemporary art exhibition centre in Zurich, Switzerland. It is located on Limmatstrasse, near the city centre. A number of temporary exhibitions are organized each year.
In 2014 Daniel Baumann replaced Beatrix Ruf ...
, Switzerland, and later traveled to the
ICA in Philadelphia. In the winter of 2006-2007, a large exhibition including works from all eras of his career was shown at the
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Mamco) in
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ...
, Switzerland. In April 2013, Armleder had a solo show at the
Dairy Art Centre in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
.
Collections
Armleder's work is held in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne,
the
Staedel Museum,
the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...
, New York,
among other institutions.
Notes
External links
Documentation of recent John Armleder exhibitionsJohn Armleder Venice Exhibition
John Armleder, "About Nothing" ICA Philadelphiareview by Steven Stern, ''Frieze''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armleder, John M
1948 births
Living people
Artists from Geneva
Postmodern artists
Swiss installation artists
Conceptual artists
Swiss contemporary painters
Swiss performance artists
Swiss contemporary artists