Gustav Metzger

Serpentine Gallery

http://www.serpentinegallery.org/
Tuesday 29 September 2009 to Sunday 08 November 2009
Exhibition previously on at Serpentine Gallery in City of London, United Kingdom
The Serpentine Gallery presents an exhibition of works by the influential artist and activist Gustav Metzger, which examines the artist’s life-long exploration of politics, ecology and the destructive powers of 20th-century society. Metzger’s career has spanned over 60 years and this is the first time such an extensive overview will be presented in this country.

Born in Nuremberg in 1926 to Polish-Jewish parents, Metzger and his brother were evacuated to Britain in 1939. In 1959, the artist published his first Auto-Destructive Art manifesto, using political and ecological issues as a starting point for his concept of a ‘public art for industrial societies’. Metzger’s work was ahead of its time in its adoption of industrial and everyday materials, and its concern for environmental issues. The artist’s continually evolving practice remains prescient today.

Location

Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA Precinct
Kensington and Chelsea
United Kingdom
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Liquid Crystal Environment 1965-1988
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Five slide projectors, liquid crystals, glass slides, mechanical control. Dimensions variable . Sammlung migros museum für gegenwartskunst Zürich
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Liquid Crystal Environment 1965-1988
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Five slide projectors, liquid crystals, glass slides, mechanical control. Dimensions variable. Sammlung migros museum für gegenwartskunst Zürich permanent loan by the artist. Photograph © FBM Studio Zürich
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Eichmann and the Angel 2005
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Industrial conveyor belt, wall of Guardian newspapers and reproduction of Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus 1920. Commissioned by Cubitt, Installation at Lunds konsthall, Sweden. Photograph © Lunds konsthall/Terje Östling
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Historic Photographs 1995-2007
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Installation view from Gustav Metzger: History History, Generali Foundation, Vienna 2005. Photograph © Werner Kaligofsky
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Siegesallee, Victory Over The Sun 2006
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
From the exhibition Gustav Metzger, Eva Weinmayr 2006, Kunstraum Munich, 14 September – 5 November 2006 Photograph © Eva Weinmayr
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Historic Photograph. Terror and Oppression 2007
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Two black and white photographs on fabric. 444 x 563 cm and 444 x 471 cm. Installation view of Gustav Metzger at Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw 2007. Photo © S Madejski
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Historic Photographs: Till we have built Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land 1998/2007
© All rights reserved Gustav Metzger 2009 United Kingdom
Colour photograph on aluminium, tyres 150 x 200 cm Installation view of Gustav Metzger at Zacheta National Gallery