Installation view
'About Nothing: Works on Paper 1962-2007' is a survey of John Armleder's drawings from the past forty-five years. The exhibition is not, and does not claim to be, a typical retrospective. Known for his chameleonic relationships with the art world, Armleder has been a critic, a painter, a sculptor, a performance artist, a curator, and a gallerist. It might seem especially odd then that an account of such a career should consist exclusively of drawings - a medium that is often deemed preparatory, ephemeral, or insignificant. However, with Armleder, this is precisely the point. Closely associated with Fluxus during the 1970s, Armleder was also the founding member of Ecart Group, a platform for showing the work of his peers from 1968 to 1983, and playing out many of the Fluxus attitudes. Later, Armleder became well known for his 'furniture sculptures,' abstract paintings that he incorporated into exclusive design objects. These works, and many of Ecart Group's activities, sought to challenge the seriousness of high art, while questioning its worth. In claiming a privileged space for Armleder's drawings, the aptly titled 'About Nothing: Works on Paper 1962-2007' is a continuation of the attitudes that Armleder has propagated throughout his career.
The first thing to note about the exhibition, which is curated by Beatrice Ruf, Director of the Kunsthalle Zurich, is that it is basically an installation. The gallery is hung salon style - an experiment I haven't seen in a contemporary art space since I saw it fail through an overwhelming display of artists' secular visions at the ICA in the fall of 2004. Thankfully, however, the salon hang has quite a different effect on a monographic show. The works - the majority of which are, individually at least, relatively nondescript - acquire new meaning as part of a composite whole. In keeping with Armleder's Fluxist interests, there is no hierarchy amongst the works and a bold Modernist Malevich-looking print is given the same attention as a shaky pencil line on a deteriorating scrap of paper. A curious addition, however, is the wallpaper that covers the bottom portion of one wall of the gallery, and the top portion of the opposite wall. Apparently, the paper is derived from a study of 5,000 snowflakes, each one, of course, different from the other. Armleder's decorative inclinations follow Thomas Demand's wallpapering of the Serpentine Gallery this summer- a peculiar 'trend,' if I dare say it.
There are two ways to interact with the exhibition at South London Gallery: firstly, as a single work of art, in which great attention has been given to painterly qualities, such as form, composition, and colour; and secondly, as a formidable display of a great many individual works of art. The best way to look at the exhibition is without the guide that they offer at the front desk. I didn't know they had one and really enjoyed perusing the works on the wall, guessing dates, citing references, and even playing out less intellectual activities, such as choosing works I just liked. It would be easy to spend ten minutes in the exhibition, and walk out without being able to recall any one particular piece, but with a little bit of engagement, a more interesting situation emerges, and you can begin to see how much these drawings actually do reveal about John Armleder's eclectic career.
Charlotte Bonham-Carter
John Armleder: About Nothing
Works on Paper 1962 - 2007
Until 25 March
South London Gallery
65 Peckham Road
London SE5 8UH
T: +44 (0)207 703 6120
www.southlondongallery.org
About Nothing: Works on Paper 1962 - 2007 is a touring exhibition previously shown at: Kunsthalle Zurich in 2004 and the ICA Pennsylvania, 2006.
John Armleder, 'Florian', 1983, collage, gouache, biro on printed paper, 17x17cm.
Courtesy the artist and Galerie Susanna Kulli, Zürich.
Charlotte Bonham-Carter is an independent critic and curator based in London. She contributes to a number of international arts publications, including Flash Art, Contemporary, Art Review, and Tank.
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