Fischli and Weiss at Sprüth Magers until Jan 31, Berlin

Exhibition Description:

Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers will be exhibiting new work by the Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The project was intially created in book form as a commission by the Swiss media conglomerate Ringier AG, who briefed the duo to customise their annual report and turn it into a work of art.

The artists created this work by carefully selecting and scanning hundreds of newspapers and magazines found throughout the global marketplace. They chose a vaste selection of adverts that cover the entire spectrum of the contemporary consumer lifestyle. Covering topics ranging from sport to travel and from fashion to family life, the adverts are juxtaposed with companion images, so each pair forms a kind of diptych. It is through this association that the artists reveal important traits of our mass culture of consumption.

Fischli and Weiss have created a kind of visual encyclopaedia of late capitalism, which results in a study of sociological research uniquely combined with an aesthetic analysis of the everyday. This artwork is an impressive testament to the power of the modern economic system and the ways in which goods and services define the modern self, allowing "many interpretations - but tells no story," as described by the curator of the Kunsthaus Zurich, Beatrix Ruf.

The gallery's presentation of 'Sonne, Mond und Sterne' involves the adverts arranged as offset prints on white paper, displayed on neutral, white painted tables and in the same order as in the catalogue. The experience of exploring the entire printed body through the gallery space rather than in published form reveals different kinds of linearity to the visual story of modern life that is being told, and emphasises the enormous scale and encyclopaedic nature of the project. The work encompasses in 800 images something approaching the entirety of contemporary human experience.

Opening Hours: Tue - Sat, 11am - 6pm

Description:

Image: Spruth Magers Berlin
Peter Fischli / David Weiss
27 November 2008 – 31 January 2009
Sonne, Mond und Sterne, 2008

© Peter Fischli / David Weiss

Courtesy Spruth Magers, Berlin / London

Full Contact Details:

Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers
Oranienburger Straße 18
D-10178 Berlin

Tel. +49 (0)30 / 2 88 84 03 0
Fax +49 (0)30 / 2 88 84 03 52