ODIOUS. The Sculpture Group
03/06/2012–19/08/2012
Exactly thirty years ago, in 1982, one of the world’s first associations of artists working exclusively in sculpture was formed at the Berlin University of the Arts. They were abstract steel sculptors who were mainly recruited from the classes of Bernhard Heiliger and David Evison. ODIOUS, as the group called itself with a self-deprecating reference to the resistance of its materials and production methods (‘odious’ = ugly, repulsive), became instantly recognised in the West German art scene; a success that was significantly promoted by the critic Heinz Ohff and the founder of the Berlinische Galerie, Eberhard Roters, among others.
In 1983/84 and 1998/89 in particular, ODIOUS organised exhibition tours through various museums and art associations, the latter under the patronage and financial support of the Berlin Senator for Culture, Volker Hassemer. Looking back, he noted: ‘ODIOUS offered the opportunity to take up a Berlin phenomenon by people who lived in Berlin, were educated here and used the city in every respect, especially with regard to its materials. It was all so that I could say they were good for Berlin. It was art in which the city was recognisable.’
The artists procured their material from the junkyards of the walled city and revitalised a predominantly Anglo-American tradition of abstract steel sculpture ranging from David Smith, Anthony Caro and Alexander Calder to Philip King, who was a visiting professor at the HdK in 1979/80 and with whom some of the group members had also studied.
In its time, ODIOUS was regarded as a sculptural alternative to the figurative, subject-emphasising painting of the ‘Junge Wilde’, with which Berlin was primarily associated in the 1980s. After reunification, the group largely disbanded. The exhibition at the Georg-Kolbe-Museum concentrates on the years 1982 to 1989, also in the sense of historicising a phenomenon, but it also sheds light on the contemporary work of its members.
The ODIOUS group included Gisela von Bruchhausen (*1940), Klaus Duschat (*1955), Klaus H. Hartmann (*1955), Gustav Reinhardt (*1950), Hartmut Stielow (*1957) and David Lee Thompson (*1951).
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with a critical appraisal of the ODIOUS group by Robert Kudielka, who has been an active witness to the artists‘ work since their foundation.
Further information can be found at
www.gruppe-odious.de