Serbian artist Goran Djurovic (*1952 in Belgrade), who currently lives and works in Berlin, studied painting in Dresden. Using delicate colors yet with succinct gestures and only ostensibly purely narrative, he describes a disturbing dream world in which the cryptic truths of our lives are revealed. His paintings recall the presumptuousness of our life schemes and the shame and embarrassment that accompany it. Paradoxical reversals, ironic caesuras, and the blending of divergent realities create a visual philosophy of absurd failure. Schooled in melancholy and the sarcastic laconism of Venetian art, each painting questions anew the authenticity of human life and the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic nature.

This book is only available in German. The English edition "Plane Image: A Brice Marden Retrospective" is published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Lois Weinberger, who represented Austria at the Biennale in São Paulo in 1991, was one of the first artists nominated by Catherine David for documenta X. Shaped in relative isolation over a period of many years, the massive and complex work of this Tirolean artist has gained particular currency in our time. His focus is the 'memory' of nature, of particular stones from the rivers Inn and Danube, whose age is determinable on the basis of their form and composition, and of plants which presumably originated long before the dawn of mankind and are capable of surviving under the harshest of conditions. The focal point of Weinberger's more recent works is the 'botanical garden', a collection of selected arid and wild plants from the Pannonian plains, whose seeds the artist gathers and cultivates for his projects in urban space. The work is accompanied by a series of cryptic-poetic texts whose frugal charm comes to light in combination with the drawings and photographs presented in this genuine artist's book. The artist: Lois Weinberger, born 1947 in Stams/Tirol; professor at the Akademie Karlsruhe, 1993/94; Internationales Atelierprogramm Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, 1994/95; lives and works in Vienna.

This monograph traces Anselm Kiefer's development as an artist with reference to four major blocks of works which reflect the most important currents in Kiefer's complex oeuvre: The presentation begins with works from the early seventies, his so- called "Dachboden-Bilder" ("Attic Images"). A second block presented under the title "Steinerne Hallen" ("Stone Halls") focuses on the often discussed "Memorials to the Unknown Painter" completed during the first half of the eighties. The next chapter deals with the archaic-looking clay architectures created by Kiefer during the nineties, and is followed by the "Images of the Cosmos and Constellations" of the years 1995-2001. These four phases document Kiefer's development from the intimate "Attic Images" to the endless expanse of the universe, his progress from microcosm to macrocosm, so to speak, and his eventual return to earth with the monumental "Sunflower Paintings." Representing a fifth part, the essay by author Christoph Ransmayr and the photographs of Thomas Flechtner focus on the glass architectures, underground corridor systems, and installations realized at Kiefer's studio estate in Barjac since 1993. (German edition available ISBN 3-7757-1124-4) The artist: Anselm Kiefer, born 1945 in Donaueschingen. Studied art at the Staatliche Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in Freiburg with Peter Dreher, in Karlsruhe with Horst Antes and subsequently at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf with Joseph Beuys from 1966-1972. 1977, 1982 and 1987, participation at documenta 6, 7 and 8. 1987- 1989, touring exhibition in the USA. 1991, retrospective at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Lives and works in France. Exhibition Schedule: Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel October 28, 2001 - February 17, 2002

Robert Campin, known as the Master of Flémalle (c. 1375–1444), and his pupil Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399–1464) were of crucial importance to the early development of Old Netherlandish painting. Along with Jan and Hubert van Eyck, they explored the visible world through painting, and thanks to oil—a new medium at the time—they were able to depict the details of this world with a realism that had never been seen before: precious brocades, the tears on the cheeks of a grieving Madonna, or snow-covered Alpine peaks on the distant horizon.
The Netherlandish painters of the sixteenth century took previously unfamiliar motifs and made them worthy of painting. Still, these types of mundane details continued to make reference to a transcendental reality, since the age was still deeply influenced by religious concepts. In this monograph, more than fifty masterpieces by teachers and students, on loan from the most important museums in the world, have been assembled side by side, allowing a direct comparison and classification of this hotly debated body of works. (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-2259-9)

 

Another publication on the Master of Flémalle is available in the Art to Hear series (German edition ISBN978-37757-2365-7; English edition 978-3-7757-2365-7).

 

Exhibition schedule: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, November 21, 2008–February 22, 2009 · Gemäldegalerie,  Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz , March 20–June 21, 2009

Serbian artist Goran Djurovic (*1952 in Belgrade), who currently lives and works in Berlin, studied painting in Dresden. Through the delicate tones of his palette as well as his formal succinctness, Djurovic’s painting—seemingly exhausting itself in narrative—actually presents a disturbing dream world in which the cryptic truths of our lives are revealed. His work evokes the pain and embarrassment caused by the presumptuousness of our life schemes. Paradoxical reversals, ironic caesuras, and the blending of dissimilar realities create a visual philosophy of comical failure. Schooled in melancholy and the sarcastic terseness of Venetian art, each painting questions anew the authenticity of human life in relation to its internal and external natures.

 

Exhibition schedule: Leonhardi-Museum Dresden April 12–June 8, 2008   Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann, Düsseldorf June – July 2008   Guardini Galerie, Berlin December 2, 2008–February 3, 2009

The sculptor Damián Ortega (born 1967 in Mexico City) has compiled a selection of drawings for this publication, with which he conceived sculptures and their spatial installations. He groups these drawings and designs under the title *Supervivencia de la Idea*, or "Survival of the Idea." This makes it clear that Damián Ortega attributes great, if not even greater, importance to the medium of drawing – in this particular case, to the designs for monumental productions – than to the finished works. With these drawings, the projects are published and, at the same time, the copyright for an idea is established. Ortega's selection of project drawings from 1991 to 2007 therefore not only provides a retrospective overview of the genesis and conception of past projects, but also documents an archive of ideas that will only be realized when the time is ripe for them.
 
Exhibition: Preis der Nationalgalerie für Junge Kunst, Hamburger Bahnhof and daadgalerie, Berlin 14.9.–4.11.2007