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Olaf Breuning

 
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Lady G, 2002, c-print on aluminium, laminated, 122 x 155 cm, edition of 5

More images: www.artnews.org/olafbreuning

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Death and the maiden – Olaf Breuning: Hello Darkness

There is a gaping hole in the wall of the gallery and rubble lies scattered about. A trail of destruction guides visitors into a foggy room with music and distorted voices. Blinded by rotating spotlights, they follow the light-tunnel and finally come upon a group of figures.

A life-sized sex doll is still holding the axe in her hand, with which she has violently hacked her way into the interior. She is lying in a coffin and is having a dialogue with death, which is also life-sized, a skeleton.

Swinging an axe like his figure and far removed from the minimalist art of denial and scepticism, Olaf Breuning also makes his way through the most diverse formal languages, quotidian and spectacular, but always highly topical. He pulls all the stops. He uses stateof-the-art technology, works with shock effects from the entertainment industry and, if possible, always tries to go to the extreme. Maximally overloaded with meaning and absolutely drenched in symbolism, the installation ‘Hello Darkness’ tells not just one story, but countless stories, stacked up on top of each other, implicitly alluded to, contradictory stories. The axe, coffin and earth tell of horror and action films. Fog machine and strobe light are familiar from clubs and pop concerts, current symbols of a society committed to fun. The plastic skeleton, which is used in the healthcare system takes up the topic of death and the body. It sings to the melody of the ring of a mobile telephone, which in turn is itself an estranged sound. The latex sex doll corresponds to the state of the art in the porno industry. Vis-à-vis the skeleton it opens up the entire gamut of life and death, love and hate, naivety and decadence. With this confrontation of the skeleton and sex doll, ‘Hello Darkness’ can also be read as a contemporary formulation of perhaps the best-known motif from medieval dances of death: Death and the Maiden. Against this background, the characteristic trait of Breuning’s installation stands out particularly clearly. Not only the figures, but everything here is a citation – the objects, the ceremonious, sombre atmosphere, even the memento mori from the baroque period here becomes a pseudo-religious message. But precisely because the installation consists only of citations, it allows us to experience how what is ostensibly pseudo has long since become reality, whereas conversely, our ideas of what is genuine have been degraded to a myth. If tongue-in-cheek citations are made here, this is not merely alienation technique, but contemporary realism. Welcome to Olaf Breuning’s universe of artificial realities and cited artificialities, of real figures of art and the living dead.

Andreas Pfister, Zurich, 23 January 2003
   

Olaf Breuning

1970 born in Schaffhausen, Germany

Lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland

Education

1988 - 1993 Berufsausbildung Fotograf / Professional training as photographer
1992 - 1995 Höhere Schule für Gestaltung, Zürich
1995 - 1996 Nachdiplomstudium / Postgraduate Studies, HSfG

Grants

2000 Stipendium/scholarship in New York, USA
2000 Bundesstipendium Fri-Art, Fribourg
1999 Bundesstipendium freie Kunst,
Kiefer-Hablitzel Stipendium,
Moet-Chandon Stipendium,
Atelierstipendium New York, Stadt Zürich
1998 Bundesstipendium freie Kunst,
UBS-Werkjahrstipendium,
Atelierstipendium Rom, Istituto Svizzero
1997 Atelierstipendium, BINZ39, Zürich

Solo Exhibitions

2005
Oh yes… It is a garden!“, Chisenhale Gallery, London
“They Live”, Chapter Visual Arts, Cardiff, UK
Ars Futura Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Meyer & Kainer, Vienna, Austria
Kodama Gallery, Osaka, Japan

2004
Nils Staerk Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
“Tell bitte melden!“, Schweizerische Landesmuseum, Zürich
Ars Futura Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Kodama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The New Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
"Olaf Breuning-vidéos", Association EDV, Toulouse, France
La Casa Encendida, Olaf Breuning-films, Madrid, Spain
"Home", Metro Pictures, New York, USA

2003
Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France
"Under the Bridge", Musée d’art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France
Museo d'Arte Garillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico
"Hello Darkness", Arndt & Partner, Berlin


2002
ArsFutura, Zurich, Switzerland
"Hello Darkness", Swiss Institute Contemporary Art, New York, USA

2001
Metro Pictures, New York, USA
Meyer & Kainer, Vienna, Austria
Arndt & Partner, Berlin
Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg
Swiss Institute, New York, USA
Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand
Air de Paris, Paris, France
Manor-Preis, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Kunstverein Schaffhausen, Switzerland

2000
"Ugly Yelp", ArsFutura, Zürich, Switzerland
Air de Paris, Paris, France

1999
"Woodworld", Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genf, Switzerland
arsFutura, Zurich, Switzerland

1998
"Woodworld", Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland (C)
"Schlund/Chris C.", Kunsthalle St. Gallen, Switzerland (C)

1997
"Waldfest", BINZ39, Zürich, Switzerland

1993
no name gallery, Basel, Switzerland

Group Exhibitions

2005
"Works on Paper", Arndt und Partner, Berlin
"Realit;-)t.Von Olaf Breuning bis Sam Taylor-Wood. 30 Videoarbeiten aus der
Sammlung Goetz in München", Seedamm Kulturzentrum, Pfäffikon, Schweiz
“When humour becomes painful”, Migros Museum, Zürich
“First we take the Museums - Urban Arts now”, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
“Von Olaf Breuning bis Sam Taylor-Wood. 33 Videoarbeiten aus der Sammlung Goetz“, München
Stella Lohaus Gallery, Antwerpen
Film Festival, Centre of Photography, Lima, Peru
International Biennale of Contemporary Art 2005, The National Gallery in Prague
”Burlesques Contemporains“, Jeu de Paume, Paris
“Growing up Absurd”, Kent Institute of Art and Design, Kent, UK

2004
„None of the above“, Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art, New York
„Mind the gap – Beachten Sie die Lücke“, Kunsthaus L6, Freiburg
“Lost Property”, Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
“Grotesque, Burlesque and Parody”, Centre d’Art Contemporaine Meymac, France
“Boys behaving badly“, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, USA
“Skin Tight The sensibility of the flesh”, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Illinois, USA
"Incantations", Metro Pictures, New York, USA
"Exit 17", Swiss Institute – Contemporary Art, New York, USA
"I am the Walrus", Cheim & Read, New York USA
PS1, New York, USA
"Altered States", Leo König, New York, USA
"Film Festival Lake Placid", Lake Placid, USA
"Grotesque, burlesque, parody", Centre d’art contemporain, Meymac, France
"Swiss Art Video Lobby", Contemporary Art Centre of Vilnius, Lithuania
"The aesthetical impact of the B-movies on contemporary art", Magazin4
Vorarlberger Kunstverein and Palais Thurn & Taxis, Bregenz, Austria (K)
"Boys behaving badly", Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, USA
"Lost Property", Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
"Prêts a prêter 2", Frac Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, France
"Short Stories", The Museum of Photography, Antwerp, Belgium
Dream Extensions, S:M:A:K:, Museum of Contemporary Art Ghent, Brussels, Belgium
"New Gothik", Galerie Cokkie Snoi, Rotterdam, Niederlande

2003
10th Biennale de l’image en Mouvement: SWISS ART VIDEO LOBBY, Centre pour l'Image Contemporaine à Saint Gervais, Genève*
“Dream Extensions”, FNAC, Frankreich*
“Venus im Pelz”, Neue Galerie Graz, Graz*
“Meanwhile in the real world. Les 20 Ans de FRAC“, Chapelle de la Sorbonne, Paris
“La Caja Negra”, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Gran Canaria, Spain
”Variations on the theme of illusion”, Emily Tsingou Gallery, London
“Swiss Mix”, Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid
“Durchzug/Draft“, Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich
“Urban Diaries“, Sala de Exposiciones Alcala 31, Madrid
“The Fourth Sex: The Extreme People of Adolescence“, Stazione Leopolda, Florence
“M_ARS – Kunst und Krieg“, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz

2002
"Schrägspur", Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
"Out of Control", Liverpool Biennale, England
"Collections Croisées", Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, France
Metro pictures, New York
"Everland", Expo 02, Switzerland
"Tutto normale", Villa Medici, Rome
"C'est pas du cinéma!", (Kur. Michel Nuridsany), Le Fresony, Studio National, France
"Cache-cache camoflage", mu.dac.Lausanne, Switzerland
10 Years arsFutura, arsFutura, Zürich, Switzerland
Hamish MeKay Gallery, Neuseeland
Loorbeer-Extract, Manor Kunstpreis Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Kunstverein Schaffhausen, Switzerland
"The Golden Week", Kodama Gallery, Osaka, Gallery Side 2, Tokyo

2001
"Hypermental", Kunsthalle Hamburg*, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
"Let's Entertain", Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Miami Art Museum
"Milano Europa 2000", Mailand, Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Barcelona
Manor-Preis, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, Schweiz
"Tokyo TV", Palais Tokyo, Paris, Frankreich
"Close Up", Kunstverein Hannover, Deutschland
Tirana Biennale, National Gallery, Tirana
"My Generation", Atlantis Gallery, London (Videoprogramm)
Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London
"Der Gehilfe", Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund /Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Barcelona
"Je pense donc je suisse", FRAC PACE, Marseille
Centre Georges Pompidou (Restaurant), Paris (Videoprogramm)
"Contemporary Fairy Tales", Five Years, London

2000
"Der Gehilfe", Kunsthalle Krems, Österreich
Fri-Art, Fribourg, Ausstellung der Bundesstipendiaten, Schweiz
Ars Futura Show, Ars Futura, Zürich
"Air de Paris", (Wall 6), Paris
"Close Up", Kunstverein Freiburg im Marienbad, Kunstverein Basel
Kunstverein Hannover
Robert Sandelson, London
"Stadt / Land / Mensch", Arndt & Partner, Berlin
Air de Paris, Paris
Galerie Art & Public, Genf
Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg
"Let's Entertain", Walker Art Centre, Mineapolis, USA, Portland Art Museum, USA; Centre Pompidou, Paris, Frankreich
"Desperate optimists", Festival a/d Werft, Utrecht, Holland
"Air Suisse", Hall de l'Ecole Supérieure d'Art, Perpignan, Frankreich
"Presumed Innocent" CAPC Museum, Bordeaux
"Guarene Arts 2000", Fondazione Rebaudengo, Turin
"Transfert", 10th Swiss Sculpture Exp., Biel
Maison de la Photographie, Paris
"Hypermental", Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich
Centro del arte Contemporaneo, Buenos Aires

1999
"Boomcyclone", Espace des Arts, (XN), Châlon-sur-Sâone
"Glee", Istituto Svizzer
"Gum", Eidgenössischer Wettbewerb für freie Kunst, Basel
"Boomcyclone", Städtischer Wettbewerb für freie Kunst, Zürich
"Gum Glum Glee", Art Basel, Statement, Ars Futura
"Glum Glee", Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena
Fotomuseum, (Young), Winterthur
(DACH), Galerie Krinzinger, Bregenz,
Podewil, Berlin
Hotel Utopia, Wien
Galerie Yvon Lambert, (The camouflage au free style 1), Paris
Kunsthalle Zürich, Stipendiumsausstellung, Zürich

1998
Binz 39, Zürich, Schweiz
Eidgenössischer Wettbewerb für freie Kunst, Basel
"Frei Sicht aufs Mittelmeer", Kunsthaus Zürich
"Come with me", X-Tra, Zürich
"Woodworld", Castell, Präsentation Film, Zuoz, Schweiz
"Freie Sicht aufs Mittelmeer", Kunsthalle Schirn, Frankfurt
"Grown in Frozen Times", Shed im Eisenwerk, Frauenfeld, Schweiz
"Empire", Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, Schweiz
Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich
"Deeper Underground", Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris
1997
"Gewebeprobe", Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, Schweiz
"Gross und Klein", Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich
"Individuelle Welten", Galerie Marie Louise Wirth, Zürich
Messe für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich
"Bed & Breakfast", Großmünsterturm, Zürich
1996
Wettbewerb für freie Kunst, Basel
"Die Klasse", Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
1995
"Ernte", Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffausen
1994
Projekt mit Lewis Baltz, Peter Kilchmann Galerie
Projekt mit Yves Netzhammer, Bahnhofpassage Schaffhausen

   

Olaf Breuning

Arndt & Partner
Zimmerstraße 90-91
D-10117 Berlin

+49 (30) 280 8123
+49 (30) 283 3738
arndt@arndt-partner.de
www.arndt-partner.de

   





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