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Reiner Ruthenbeck
Taschenspiegel   1970–71
Ceramic tile
Dimensions 108mm x 108mm
Edition of 20
Signed (verso)

£960 (incl. VAT) 

To accompany his exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, Reiner Ruthenbeck has donated a Limited Edition from 1970-71. The title Taschenspiegel translates as ‘pocket mirror’ which refers to the reflective surface of the black square tile. The simplicity of this work exemplifies the artist’s commitment to pure, geometric form. This is a rare opportunity to acquire an original work by Ruthenbeck from a key moment from his career.

Reiner Ruthenbeck (born 1937, Velbert, Germany) has exhibited widely in Europe since the late 1960s. Selected solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Dusseldorf and Wilhelm Lembruck Museum, Duisburg (both 2008); Museum Folkwang, Essen (2004); Goethe- Institut, London (1994); Kunsthalle Baden- Baden (1993); Nationalgalerie / Altes Museum, Berlin (1990); Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1986); Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1972) and Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf (1967). Together with Joseph Beuys and Jochen Gerz he exhibited in the German Pavilion at the 37th Venice Biennale in 1976. Further selected group exhibitions include Gravity and Grace: The Changing Condition of Sculpture, 1965–1975, Hayward Gallery, London (1993); Skulptur Projekte Munster (1987 and 1997); dOCUMENTA 5, 6, 7, and 9, Kassel (1972–1992) and Harald Szeemann’s seminal exhibition Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form, Kunsthalle Bern (1969). Ruthenbeck has also received a number of awards including Lehmbruck Prize of the City of Duisburg (2006), Fifth Graphics Prize Griffelkunst – Members, Hamburg (2005), Arnold Bode Prize, Kassel (1992), and Art Prize of the City of Krefeld (1973).

 

Reiner Ruthenbeck

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Reiner Ruthenbeck (b. 1937 in Germany) is an orchestrator of geometric form, noted for his ability to transform space using unconventional materials such as crumpled paper or swathes of fabric. Ruthenbeck’s work subverts the familiar, using minimalist objects and simple everyday materials to explore architecture, iconology, perception and, in later works, sound. In 2006, Ruthenbeck wrote: “We are moving towards immaterial art, yet we only approach it in small steps.” From 1968 to 1972, he created several piles and cones made of ash, slag and paper. Later, he would present utilitarian objects like chairs, tables and a suitcase, stripped of their function and thus exaggerating the objects’ pure shapes. The exhibition brought together, for the first time in the UK, many of these key moments in the artist’s career and included sculpture, objects and conceptual works.

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