Klaus Staudt, Lawrence Weiner
Zweite Veränderung
30.05.2010

With the FIRST CHANGE, the installation of a room by the artist Gregor Schneider, the Kunstverein began the gradual transformation of the museum exhibition in January. Little by little, more works are being taken out of the depot and new artists are being introduced to the museum. As part of this change, the SECOND CHANGE will take place at the end of May. This time, relief paintings, drawings and sculptures by the artist Klaus Staudt as well as posters by the American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner will be presented.

With Klaus Staudt, the Kunstverein is presenting an international renown artist with regional roots. Since studying painting, which Klaus Staudt completed in Munich in the early 1960s, the artist, who was born in Otterndorf on the Lower Elbe in 1932, has been working with geometric abstraction. In over 40 years of work, he has developed an independent and distinctive position that impresses with its continuity and stringency as well as its innovative power.

Stylistically, Klaus Staudt’s work is concrete art, as it does not abstract reality, but materializes the spiritual and is created through pure geometric construction. Mathematical and physical laws form the basic theoretical concept, which is expanded in Staudt’s work through light, shadow, space and movement. By varying and combining similar elements, different lighting situations and the movement of the viewer in front of the object, he softens the geometric statics.

Staudt’s work can be divided into two main groups. One group has been made up of reliefs and objects since 1960. The second group has been made up of sculptures and constructive drawings since 1970. Thanks to generous support from the artist, works from both groups of works will be on display in the museum.

At the same time as the new room for Klaus Staudt, the Kunstverein is presenting a wall with posters and invitation cards by Lawrence Weiner. The exhibition history of this American artist is closely linked to Bremerhaven. In the 1970s he exhibited several times in the Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst. In 2005, a collection of his text works was even published under the title “Bremerhaven”.

His art is based on the idea that the idea for a work of art is more important than the execution. This led Lawrence Weiner to use language as a medium of art. Instead of pictures or sculptures, he gives descriptions that are written directly on a wall or distributed in books, invitation cards or posters. Posters or cards therefore have the character of a work in Lawrence Weiner’s art. The Kunstverein is now presenting a selection of these works in the Kunstmuseum.