A look at: Günther Förg

The artist Günther Förg: Brief statement

The position of an artist within the art world is a subject of discussion in art history. It certainly warrants further study if the value of a particular artist to the art world and the inherent worth of their work are to be more precisely defined.

The question is whether this is necessary or whether the more precise classification of an artist should ultimately be left to the subjective perception of the viewer.

The “Look at” section presents artists in brief overviews, more of a sketch than a scholarly treatise, more of an invitation to further exploration of an artist than an evaluation of their artistic work. Such a broad overview allows for no more than a brief classification of an artist, which is nevertheless certainly worthwhile.

Today, information gathered on the internet makes it possible an artist's position in the art world , e.g., information from an internet platform that records the artists of our world according to exhibition successes, processing enormous amounts of data and including as many exhibitions as possible in which the artist in question has ever appeared in the outside world.

Günther Förg is currently ranked 106th in this “world ranking of art”

Number 106 in the world – even though the ranking based on exhibition successes is a snapshot constantly recalculated by a computer, he is obviously a very important modern artist.

Since last year, Günther Förg has climbed 10 places in the ranking, leaving behind such important artists as John Cage, Salvador Dalí , Cy Twombly, Pierre Huyghe, Jonathan Meese , Pipilotti Rist, Markus Lüpertz , Max Beckmann , Bernd and Hilla Becher and Yves Klein.

Günther Förg has made a name for himself as a painter, sculptor and photographer (“artistic architectural photographer”).

The main themes of Günther Förg's artistic work

Günther Förg began with grey; during his studies at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts (and later as well) he painted exclusively dark panel paintings in monochrome grey tones, which are said to be inspired by the work of Cy Twombly (whom he has currently overtaken by a dozen places art

Günther Förg's work continued to evolve, constantly taking surprising turns. Förg experimented with a wide variety of materials and media : canvas and paper, wood and stone, aluminum, lead, and more. Until the completion of his studies and in the period that followed, he primarily created paintings, works on paper, and photographs; from the late 1970s onward, he also produced bronze sculptures and installation murals.

In his paintings, the rapid and laconic application of paint becomes his trademark, with stripes, crosses, and grids dominating the pictorial elements. The motif of the window becomes typical of his work; each of these "window paintings" symbolized a window to the world for Günther Förg.

Günther Förg was fascinated by the architecture of 20th-century modernism. His engagement with its buildings – from the IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main to Bauhaus architecture in Israel and modernist buildings in Moscow – and with the designs of Italian rationalist architecture shaped his entire oeuvre and provided the subject matter for his photographic work.

by large-format window and grid paintings on paper or canvas, entirely in keeping with his fascination with modern architecture: quick but precisely placed brushstrokes, clear surfaces, broken colors in which shimmering effects and light moods appear – the geometric structure of the architecture is reflected and appears animated in the painting.

The art of Günther Förg: Examples

• Early detailed photographs of modern architecture: “Villa Wittgenstein” , 1987
• An early example of "window pictures" is the artwork "Untitled" from 1991, acrylic on wood, 210 x 180 cm
• Günther Förg's "Gate and Stele" from 1994 takes a very active approach to architecture.
• A late reminiscence of the gray phase, which also shows “window pictures” “Untitled” , 1996, gouache on paper, 83 x 112.7 cm
• Another foray into architecture, but on a smaller scale: “Installation View” from 2001
• One of Günther Förg's "Windows to the World" displays the following work: "Untitled" , 2004

Günther Förg's work in the public sphere: exhibitions, art in public spaces and in public collections

Günther Förg's exhibition history is truly remarkable:

The presence of his works in exhibitions began in 1980 with his first solo exhibition at the Rüdiger Schöttle Gallery in Munich . This continues to this day, with a significant increase in Förg's art appearing in group exhibitions; until shortly before the turn of the millennium, there were at most a dozen such exhibitions per year, but since 1999, this number has risen to two dozen.

The third dozen was reached in 2006, and this remained the case for a long time, although in the year of the artist's death, there were "only" around 30 group exhibitions.

Between 1982 and today (2015), there were two years in which Günther Förg's works were not shown in a solo exhibition anywhere in the world. These were the years 1989 and 1994; however, he was featured in 11 and 7 of his more than 600 group exhibitions, respectively.

had "only" around 200 solo exhibitions, including documenta IX and presentations in virtually all major art centers worldwide. Most of Förg's exhibitions took place in Germany (around 350), followed by approximately 60 presentations in the USA and Austria, and around 50 exhibitions in Switzerland and Spain.

62 galleries represent Günther Förg or are now making his heirs happy; artworks by Günther Förg fetch at least high five-figure prices today.

Günther Förg's work can be seen in private and public collections and in public spaces:

The Deutsche Bank Collection has amassed over 900 works by Förg, including numerous works on paper and artistic photographs of modern architecture such as the Villa Wittgenstein and the Cité radieuse in Marseille (one of Le Corbusier's "machines for living").

Public collections in 15 countries own and display artworks by Günther Förgs:

• Argentina (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires MACBA)
• Belgium (Museum of Contemporary Art Eupen, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst Ghent)
• Denmark (ARKEN Museum of Modern Art Ishøj)
• Germany (Architecture Gallery Berlin, Daimler Contemporary, Hamburger Bahnhof, Haubrok Collection, Hoffmann Collection, all in Berlin, Bonn Art Museum, Chemnitz Art Collections, Küppersmühle Museum for Modern Art Duisburg, Erlangen Art Palace, Museum of Modern Art, Städel Museum, both Frankfurt/Main, Center for Art and Media Technology Karlsruhe, Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig, Lenbachhaus Municipal Gallery & Kunstbau Munich, Grässlin Art Space St. Georgen and others)
• France (FRAC Picardy Amiens, FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Marseille, Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes, among others)
• Canada (National Gallery of Canada, Musée des fine-arts du Canada Ottawa)
• Italy (Collezione Maramotti Reggio Emilia, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Turin)
• Luxembourg (Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean Luxembourg)
• Netherlands (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam)
• Austria (Neue Galerie Graz, Essl Museum Klosterneuburg)
• Switzerland (Kunstmuseum Basel + Museum für Gegenwartskunst Basel, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Fotomuseum Winterthur)
• Spain (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, ​​Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Madrid, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea Santiago de Compostela, etc.)
• Turkey (Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul)
• USA (MOCA Grand Avenue Los Angeles, Walker Art Center Minneapolis, Museum of Modern Art New York City, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Francisco, etc.)
• United Kingdom (Monsoon Art Collection, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, all in London)

“Gate and Stele” stands in the center of Rotterdam, Doelstraat, Centrumruit:

Günther Förg also created the neon relief that adorns the ceiling of the Kunsthalle café in Museumpark Westzeedijk: www.kunsthal.nl/

In Neuchâtel, France, stands “L'horrible” from 2007:

How did Günther Förg get into art?

Günther Förg studied art from 1973 to 1979 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

The professor who influenced him most was Karl Fred Dahmen. Born in the Rhineland in 1917, the artist worked with material paintings and object boxes and pursued similar goals to the “Nouveaux Réalistes” : the connection of art to life through the inclusion of real (everyday) objects in art.

Förg's rise began in 1984 with his participation in the legendary exhibition “From Here On – Two Months of New German Art in Düsseldorf” in Hall 13 of the Düsseldorf Trade Fair, a gathering of today deeply impressive artistic luminaries – Georg Baselitz , Bernd and Hilla Becher , Joseph Beuys , Marcel Broodthaers, Hanne Darboven, Jörg Immendorff, Anselm Kiefer, Martin Kippenberger, Imi Knoebel, Markus Lüpertz, the group Normal (Peter Angermann, Jan Knap, Milan Kunc), Albert Oehlen, Markus Oehlen, Nam June Paik , AR Penck, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter , Dieter Roth , Ulrich Rückriem, Salomé, Thomas Schütte, Herman de Vries, Andy Warhol and Marina Abramović were just some of the more than 70 participating artists.

The fame of this exhibition led Günther Förg almost directly to documenta in Kassel. After participating in documenta in 1992, Förg's profile and exhibition presence steadily increased; today he is undoubtedly one of the most important contemporary German artists.

Günther Förg as a public figure: Prizes and awards, teaching activities

Günther Förg was awarded the Wolfgang Hahn Prize in Cologne in 1996, and in 2003 he received the Federal Cross of Merit.

From 1992 to 1999 he taught at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, and from 1999 he taught as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

The private Günther Förg

Günther Förg was born on December 5, 1952 in Füssen and died on December 5, 2013 in Freiburg im Breisgau, on his 61st birthday.

Günther Förg as a private individual was never the subject of much media interest. Beyond the fact that he owned a house in Arosa, Switzerland, and a house in Freiburg, Germany, and that he married the artist Ika Huber in 1993, little is known about his private life.

Current access to Günther Förg

There are currently six exhibitions where you can also view works by Günther Förg:

• The exhibition “Dal prossimo ottobre la Six si trasferirà nella nuova sede di Piazza Piola” 5 runs until December 22, 2015 in the Galleria Six in Milan
• The exhibition “Black Sun” runs until January 10, 2016 at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen
• The exhibition “Time Present – ​​Photography from the Deutsche Bank Collection” runs until January 11, 2016 at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo
• The exhibition “Photography: International – Video, Mixed Media” by the Daimler Art Collection in Stuttgart runs until January 31, 2016
• The exhibition “Contemporary Art from Germany” runs until February 13, 2016 at the Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel
• The exhibition “Koelnskulptur #8” runs until June 1, 2017 in the Cologne Sculpture Park

There is no website for Günther Förg, however you can find a slideshow with almost 100 works by the artist on the website of the Bärbel Grässlin Gallery, galerie-graesslin.de/s .

Furthermore, the Handelsblatt article “GÜNTHER FÖRG – Devotion to Color” information about the price development and stability of the artist's works on the general art market.

Lina cream

Passionate author with lively art interest

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