PR: Lawrence Weiner - New work at KODE
KODE gets a site spesific sculptural piece by the american artist Lawrence Weiner in and at the "Lysverket" building, KODE 4. First part of the work is opened at 9 September.
Lawrence Weiner (b. 1942) is one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often takes the form of texts, installed in architechtural situations; walls, buildings and public spaces. Based on ideas of material relations, the work challenges notions of perception and reality.
His work has been exhibited in major exhibitions and collected by a wide range of art museums and institutions all over the world throughout his long career. A central influence, not only on art history, but also on generations of artists, his work has challenged the definition of art and its material presence.
New work at KODE
During 2019 and 2020 KODE Bergen Art Museum launches a new site spesific sculptural piece by Weiner inside and outside at "Lysverket" KODE 4. First part, Brought Down to Just Below will open inside the building by 9 September. Part two of the project will open outside during 2020.
The artist will come to Bergen and give an artist talk with the Norwegian artist Lotte Konow Lund at the Faculty of Fine Art, KMD, in Bergen, Tuesday 10 September at 13.00. The talk is open for all and has free admission. Find more information on the Artist Talk here.
Writings on the wall
The public realm has played an important part throughout Weiner’s career, with his slogans spread across the facades of public buildings around the world, translated into numerous languages.
While his works exist only as language and can be displayed in any form, he is closely involved in its manifestations. Texts appear on walls and windows of galleries and public spaces, as spoken word in audio recordings and video, printed books, cast or carved objects, tattoos, graffiti, lyrics, online, ad infinitum.
Weiner’s desire to put work out in the world for all to read and engage with, dates back to his earliest experiences of art through writings on the walls in the city growing up in the South Bronx, New York.
What constitutes a work of art?
Existing as an idea rather than a physical object, Weiner frees his artwork from the limitations of more traditional art forms.
Wiener sees himself as a sculptor rather than a conceptualist. He defines his sculptural medium simply as ‘language + the material referred to’, holding that a construction in language can function as a sculpture.
As Weiner sees it, a work’s existence requires a readership rather than a physical presence. In determining sculpture through the use of language his work seeks to transcend and move between cultures without metaphor, leaving it open to interpretation and the individual needs and desires of the ‘receiver’, promoting a universal accessibility for art.
As such his work offers a radical redefinition of the relationship between the artist and the viewer.
