6f OR6 Hf ROlU

NEW WORK

SAN FRANCISCO NEW WORK:

MAY3-JUNE24,1990

Born in , Ease , in 1947, Georg Herold studied arc for four years in Halle before attempting co escape co the West in 1973. He was captured and jailed, but nine months lacer, through the efforts of the West German government, he was freed with a number of others convicted of similar crimes. Herold went to Munich, where he continued to study arc for two years, and then settled in . There he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with , among others, and met , . and Werner Buttner. Although Herold's work has often been discussed together with chat of his three artist friends, with each of whom he has held two-person exhibitions, the resemblances between chem are not great. Oehlen and Buttner are first of all painters, and Kippenberger has been primarily a painter until relatively recently; Herold practices the art only Intermit­ tently. Their artistic alliance is more a matter of their approach to art itself-irreverent and occasionally sardonic-than stylistic affinities in the usual sense. Herold's relationship with Sigmar Polke is another matter. For example, Herold's entitled Dure r'sRabbit of 1984 is an interpretation of the best-loved work of arc in Germany. worked out in stacks of wood lath, chat shares its parodic intent with Polke's of the same subject from1968. More recently, the caviar Herold has made over the last two or three years clearly refer co Polke's paintings over the last decade, many of which,

such as The Spines That Lend StrengthAre Invisible, Ill: Nickel (1988, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) are made with unadulterated minerals covered with resin. Yee Polke's work of chis nature, especially in comparison to Herold's, is unabashedlyserious, and his methods often are cransformacive in relation co their materials, whereas much of the point in Herold's using caviar to make his paintings depends on his medium's remaining clearly recognizable. In fact, these works are best seen as part , part tongue-in-cheek homage to the work of his former teacher. Similarly, Herold's occasional practice of electroplating paintings and

sculpture is also, in part, an ironic reference to Polke's "alchemical" use of materials. The sources of Herold's art are in fact quite complex. Like many German and, increas­ ingly, American artists, Herold's maturework owes much co the example of . Like Beuys, who worked almost entirely a.s a sculptor and draftsman, Herold uses the most ordi­ nary materials-plain wood lath, bricks, electric cords, underwear, buttons, and the like­ usually alteringthem very little, if at all. Beuys, too, typically left his materials in their original state, but his choice was often highly personal, such as the felt and fathe had been wrapped in co treat burns suffered when he was shot down over the Crimea during World War II, or other materials such as roses, pianos, bathtubs, or batteries that had complex aesthetic, scientific, or philosophical meanings and associations. Often, Beuys's works have the aura of sacred relics, an effect that comes both from their use in his many "actions" (live works that took on something of the character of performance arc) and lectures, and from their clear connection co his own complex and charismatic personality. Finding an aura surrounding a work by Georg Herold is impossible. What is ordinary in his materials stays that way, and his The Bow, 1989 occasional references to his own life are deliberate non sequiturs. Herold's choice of mace rials and the way he uses chem owe at lease as much co the prac­ tice of American minimalist artists as they do co Beuys. His brick painting, The Bow, recalls the brick made in the 1960s. Yet the differences are at least as important as the similarities. Unlike Andre's work, which almost without exception is arranged in com­ pact geometric forms, Herold's bricks have at best a very loose order. To be sure, they are attached co the canvas in a more or less straight line, descending diagonally fromright to left, but here, truth co materials has led co imperfect geometry. Asthe bricks descend the canvas, their accumulated weight causes it to sag to an alarming degree, throwing the bricks out of alignment and creating the impression chat the canvas itself is about to give way.The result is at once absurd-even funny-and pathetic, as the work of arc seems to be bent on destroy­ ing itself. Herold has made an object chat is inherently unstable and irregular, and it seems to the viewer to be both alarming and ridiculous, a most uncanonical combination in minimal arc. le is precisely in this area of what might be called undermined or endangered chat the visual beauty of Herold's work often lies. The materials themselves are beautiful, and Herold's use of them -austere and rigorous, even when most comically absurd- gives the work a kind of honesty that comes paradoxically as somethingof a relief. After the excesses of somuch neo-expressioniscart in the 1980s, Herold's work, tragic and imperiled as it is, has credibility of a kind chat much of the art being made today sadly lacks. It is real and irreducible, and, though often funny, never a pose. Standing before Herold's work one tends to think chat chis, at lease, Is still here; this much, at lease, of the edifice of arc remains standing. Indeed, Herold's work raises significantquestions. In the traditional language of arc, a brick painting is an imposs1b11icy.If a brick is included in a work the work must be three-dimensional and therefore sculpture: yet Herold's brick painting 1s a "painting" too: a pigmented medium attached to a flat, or nearly so, canvas. Herold's subversion of the ordinary criteria of art does not stop there, however. He has made a work chat 1s not only difficult to classify but one that refuses co satisfy even the most "minimal" definitions of what constitutes a work of arc. Ordinarily. arc is something chat has form and meaning, and Herold's work comes close co having neither.Its meaningis deliberatelyobscure or absent, and itsform seems imperiled, as in the brick painting, or even more often, random. One thinks of 's urinal which he inverted, entitled The , and exhibited in the Armory Show in New York in 1913. Duchamp made a urinal sculpture only once. Herold, by contrast, constantly producesobjects that are as arbitrary and irreverent as anything Duchamp ever attempted-for example, sculptures made of underwear or pantyhose-and at the same time they are formally irregular and imperfect. One tries in vain to discern any reason for the placement of the screws in his Screws behind Glass, and the sewn lines in Gal1poli are deliberately random in their course. Sometimes, too, the very structure of his work seems haphazardand sloppy. In Members Only. which we may take as an absurd representation of a clubhouse or a creehouse, the cardboard box is held together by strips of plastic tape chat are obviously only partially attached, so chat the whole structure seems endangered. Duchamp's urinal, on the other hand, could have lasted forever had he chosen to preserve it. Clearly Georg Herold is skating on very thin ice. Yet equally clearly, since he makes works that resemble each ocher, they are not simply experiments, or Duchampian gestures. He has, Unutled, 1990 . . . -.

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Hosp1rolismus,1989

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in fact,as even an exhibition that is limited in scope makes evident, chosen to work consistently at the boundaries of art, approaching the moment where non-form becomes un-meaning.

This in itself is surely part of the meaning of his work. As viewers, we watch a dangerous, repeated game played for high stakes, and our pleasure in his work includes a high level of . : · .. apprehension. In one sense, it is like watching a child running happily along the edge of a cliff;

1 single misstep and Herold's art falls into the abyss of meaningless detritus. We are reassured

and fascinated, however; by two things: his wit, his evident pleasure so plainly transmitted to us in the form of humor; which suggests that he knows exactly what he is doing; and the honesty of what he makes. Looking at the bare framework of a painting with two yellow extension l cords attached in G.O.E.LR.O. (initals of the Russian name for Lenin's 1920 plan for the electri­ J fication of Russia) gives us a curious pleasure, a sense that some irreducible point has been reached and a hope that a truth has been arrived at. We look at Herold's work as if traveling with him to the edgeof the abyss, and then, reassured by laughteras well as his obviousserious­ ness and skill, rediscover that the ground, though crumbling, is still under our feet.

john Caldwell

G.0.E.L.R.0., 1988 Curator ofPainting and Sculpture GEORG HEROLD Galerie Massimodi Carlo, Milan Broken Neon, Ste1nscher Herbst 87. Forum Hoffmann,Justin. "GeorgHerold at Christoph Born in Jena, EastGermany. 1947 LawrenceOliver Gallery. Philadelphia Stadtpark,Graz; Galene Christoph Durr. Munich; Durr Kunscraum, Munich:' Artscribe, no. 69 Galene Sylvana Lorenz. Pans (May1988): 86. Lives and works in , Multiples.Galerie Gisela Capita1n. Cologne Koether,Jutta. "Sculptures: Koury/Wingate:· Georg Herold, Kunsthalle, (catalogue) 1988 Georg Herold, Joseph Beuys,M artin K1ppenberger, Artscribe, no. 69(May 1988): 76. EDUCATION 1990 S1gmar Polke, Luhring, Augustine & HodesGallery. Krebs,Edith. "GeorgHerold at Kunsthalle,ZurKh'.' Halle,. 1969-73 Galerie MaxHealer. Cologne New York NOEMA, no.22 (1989). Akademie der B1ldendenden Kunste, Munich, Robbin LockettGallery. Chicago 1974-76 Ans1Chten,Westfalischer Kunstverein, Munster Malsch,Friedemann. "Die Ziegelbilder."Kunstforum (April/May 1989). Hochschule fur B1ldende KOnste,Hamburg, Binationale/ The Bmotlonal, Deutsehe/ 1977-82 GROUP EXHIBITIONS Amerikanische Kunst der sp�ten 80er Jahre, Malsch, Friedemann. "Georg Herold 1 :1 at 1978 Kunsthalle DOsseldorf; Museum of Fine Arts, WescBlischerKunstverein, Munster." Kunsr­ Boston: Minneapolis Institute of Fine Arts; (orum137 (January/February 1987): 334-35. INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS Wer hal Angsc vor der Hamburger Krankhe11, Galerie Grolitsch, Munich Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston Malsch, Friedemann. "Nothlng's Final The 1977 (catalogue) Sculptural Principle-Flight into Mania: Latce, Hochschule fUr Bildende Kunste, Hamburg 1979 Thoughts on the Roles of Form and Material Mode Nervo, with Albert Oehlen, Kunstlerhaus, 1989 1978 inGeorg Herold's Work:' no. 15 Hamburg;Galerle Arno Kohnen, Dusseldorf The Renaissance Society at the University Porkett, Laser. private exhibition. Wllhelmsburg (1988): 32-34. (catalogue) of Chicago (catalogue) is ?, Neff, Eileen. "Georg Herold at Lawrence Oliver 1982 1. ausserordencliche Veranstalcung m Bild und Klang What Roose um, Malmo, Gallery, Philadelphia:•Artforum 28, no. 25 Goeche-Latte,Galene Gugu Ernesto, Cologne zum Thema derZeit: £/end, Kippenbergers Buro, Sweden (catalogue) (january1990):145-46. 1983 Neue Figura!ion - Deutsche Malerel 1960-88, Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf; Kunsthalle Schirn, Plagens, Peter. "German Exchange:· Art in America Em Kreuzweg.Galerie Klein, Bonn 1980 (catalogue): Re(igured Pamlmg: The 77, no. 4(April1989): 42-49. 2. ausserordentlicheVe ranscalcung m Bild und Klang 1984 German Image 1960-88. The Toledo Museum of zum Themo der Z 11 : P1sskrucke (Gehe1mdienst Renton.Andrew."Georg Herold at Karsten lch komme niche zum Abendessen, Galerie Max e Aktion Art;Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New Schubert/Interim Art, London:·Flash Art, Hetzler.Stuttgart om nochsten), Kunstlerhaus, Berlin York; Williams College Museum,Williamstown, no.146 (May/June 1989): 121. P.F.U. I.Diffuso dello Culcuro, Galerie Max Healer. Miilhe1mer Fre1he1t und mteressonte 61/der aus Massachusetts(catalogue) Schutz, Sabine. "Similia/D1ssimilia:· Kunstforum 91 Cologne Deutsch/and,Galerie Paul Maenz. Cologne Bilderstre1t, W1derspruch, Emhe1t und Fragment m (October/November1987): 306-9. 1984 der sell Museum Ludwig(in den Rhein­ 198S Kunst 1960, Schwendenwien,Jude. "Sculpture at Koury/ Kunstlandscha(tm der6undesrepub/1k heuce, hallen der Koiner Messe), Cologne (catalogue) Unschdrferelacion, Realismus Studio der Neuen Wingate:' 87,Artnews no. 6(Summer 1988): 193. Geselischaftfur BildendeKunst, Berlin(catalogue) Kunstverein, Hamburg Smith, Roberta. "Art That Doesn't CareToo Much Fiin(Blldhauer.Museum Folkwang. Essen BIBLIOGRAPHY Galene MaxHetzler. Cologne AboutIts Looks:' New Yorki T mes,January 22. Im M111elpunkt Kunst, Wesffalischer Kunstvereln, 1986 Archer, Michael. "WernerButtner, Georg Herold 1989. Munster I: 1, Westfalischer Kunstverein, Munster and Albert Oehlen at the ICA:' Artscribe, 1985 no. 62(March/Aprll 1987): 73-74. CHECKLIST 1987 Forg.Herold, K1ecol, Meuser, Mucha, Galerie Avgikos,Jan. "Gift of the Artist:' Artscribe,no. 79 Galene Max Hetzler.Cologne Broeken Peter Pakesch, Vienna (catalogue) (January/February1990): 88. Galene Borgmann-Capitain, Cologne 1985 WOscheleine verkehrtrum, with Martin K1ppen­ Balthaus, Fritz. "Dlngens:· Die Tageszeicung Taz, mixed media with underwear and wire Das Heil m Kunst, Galerie Peter Pakesch, der berger,Galerie Petersen, Berlin December 14, 1988. 14x14x10 in. (35.6 x 35.6 x 25.4 cm) Vienna Collection of Kathleen and Roland Augustine, 1986 Beck, Ernest. "Georg Herold at Kunsthalle Zurich:' Richard Foncke Gallery, Ghent New York Konnen wir viellerchl ma/ unsere Mutter Artnews 88. no. 4(Aprll 1989): 224. Schrouben, Ndgel, D(en, Knop(e, Juwel, Kunstraum wiederhaben!, with Werner Buttner and Albert Catoir. Barbara."Being an Artist Is not aGoal: Piaton Munchen; Galerie Christoph Durr. Munich Oehlen, Kunstverein, Hamburg; What about Georg Herold Interviewed by Barbara Catoir." 1985 Kunsthalle Dusseldorf havmg our mother bock!, Institute of Contem­ Artscribe, no. S7(April/May1986): 48-50. acrylic on canvas porary Art, London (catalogue) 1911/16 x 24 in. (SO x 61 cm) Dickhoff,W1lfned. "Members Only:' Artforum26, 1988 Courtesy Luhring Augustine Gallery. New York Richard Foncke Gallery.Ghenc 1987 no.5 (January1988): 107-8. Donation ofthe Year Skulpcur ProJekleMunster, Westfahsches Elhs,Stephen. "The Boys m the Sande."Art m Koury WingateGallery. New York 1986 Landesmuseum,Munster America 76, no.12 (December 1988): 110-25, University Gallery, Un1vers1ty of Massachusetts rooflath, cactus, and bulb RoomEnough - Sommlung Schurmann, Suermondt­ 167-69. ;u Amherst 4]5/16 x 19S/16x 145/16 in. (110 x 49 x 38 cm) Ludwig Museum, Aachen(catalogue) Graw, Isabelle."Atlanusches Bundms:·Wolken­ Courtesy Luhring Augustine Gallery.New York 1989 S1milro-D1ss1m1/1a, Stadusche Kunsthalle, kratzerArt journal,no. 1(January/February Members Only Kamen SchubertLtd., London Dusseldorf; WalachArt Gallery. Columbia 1988): 36-43. 1986 lncenm Arc,London University, New York (catalogue) Graw,Isabelle. "Em Ausflug m Marktbeherrschte woodand cardboard Daniel Weinberg Gallery.Los Angeles Zonen:' Artis,November 1988. 94Y2x 47\4x 3Wi in. (240 x 120 x 80 cm) Collection of Peter Brams Designs Ltd., New York Mothers Hands Bauhaus The Baw (illustrated) Untitled 1986 1988 1989 1990 woodand wire metal, acrylic,and thread on canvas bricks on linen bricks and caviar on canvas 9%x 111-'x 51Yi in. (25 x 30x 131 cm) 9 x 12 in. (22.9 x30.5 cm) 96 x 48 x 914 in. (243.8 x 123.8 x 24.8 cm) 94Yix 67 in. (240x170 cm) Courcesy Koury W1ng3teGallery. New York Collection of Joseph Kosuth and Cornelia Lauf, Collection of Byron R. Meyer.San Francisco Courtesy Luhring Augustine Heuler. Santa New York Photo: Douglas M. Parker Studio, Los Angeles; Monica, California 1233 courtesy Daniel WeinbergGallery. Santa Monica 1987 Elec1nfico11on Untitled screws and thread on canvas 1988 Eiger Nardwond 1990 12x 16 In. (30.5 x 40.6 cm) wood,metal, extension cord, screws, staples, 1989 caviar and lacquer on canvas Courtesy Koury Wingate Gallery. New York plastic, and N lvea cream varnish on underwear over wood 783,4x110\4 in. (200x 280cm)

234 x 1Yix 1Yi in. . 220 In. (594.4x 3.8 x 3.8 cm, 24 x 1515/16 x5% in. (61x40.5x15 cm) 1451 Courtesy Luhring Augustine Heuler. Santa 558.8 1987 cm) Private collection, Los Angeles Monica, California nails. thread, and bondex acrylic on canvas Courtesy of the arcist and Koury Wingate Gallery. Framework Untitled 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm) New York 1989 1990 Collection of Ealan and Elisabeth Wingate, Galipoli shellac and masking tape on copper-electroplated electroplated bricks on canvas New York 1988 wood 102% x 82% in. (260 x 210 cm) ink, nails, thread, and acrylic on canvas 77Y2 x 104\4 In. (196.9 x 264.8 cm) 2345 Courtesy Luhring Augustine Hetzler, Santa 48 x 24 (121.9 61 cm) 1987 in. x Private collection; courtesy Thea Westreich Monica, California Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald S. Fineberg, Associates,New York buttons, fabric, yarn, and thread on canvas Untitled 12 x 9Yi In. (30.5 x 24.1 cm) Boston Hospltollsmus (Illustrated) 1990 Courcesy Koury Wingate Gallery, New York G.O.E.L.R.O. (illustrated) 1989 bricks on red velvet 1988 underwear and wire over wood 141¥. x 94Yi (360x 3148 in. 240cm) , 15%x 12x 12 (39x 30.5 x 30.5 1987 wood wire, electrical cord, electrical outlet, In. cm) Courtesy of the artist and Koury Wi ngateGal lery. buttons, thread, and paint on canvas tape. staples, and picture hooks Private collection, New York New York 110\4 x 86% (280x 220 cm) 10x 8 in. (25.4x 20.3 cm) 1n. Photo: Douglas M. Parker Studio, Los Angeles; CourtesyKoury Wing3te Gallery,New York Collection of Diego Cortez, New York courcesy Galerle Max Heuler Photo courtesy Koury Wing3te Gallery, New York Pyrom1de Untitled (illustrated, not In exhibition) nn 1990 1987 Museo 1989 bricks on redvelvet screws, thread, yarn, and bondex acrylic on 1988 wood 108x 1'44x 1'44 (274.3x 365x 365 110\4x 86% in. (280x 220 cm) canvas mixed media on twelve canvases;cotton over In. cm) CounesyGalerie Max Heuler, Cologne 12 x 10 in. (30.5 x 25.4 cm) chipboard Courtesy of the arust 43x x 63 (109.2x 172.7 x160 Courtesy Koury Wing3te Gallery. New York 68 in. cm) Unmled Collection of Fundaci6n San German, San German, 1989 Evolution Piece Puerto Rico is generously supported 1987 bricks and electroplated copper on linen New Work: GeorgHerold 107"%x 74 x 31�/16 (274 x 188 x 10 by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's thread, shellac, polyurethane, enamel, and buttons Screwsbehind Gloss in. cm) Collectors Forum and the National on canvas 1988 Courtesy Rhona HoffmanGallery, Chicago Endowment forthe Arts. 20 x30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm) screws, masonite, wood, and glass Untitled 29Yi 21%x 4l,4 (74.9 x 54.9 x 12.1 , x in. cm) 1989 Collection of Eala n and Elisabeth Wingate © 1990 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Courtesy of the arcist and Koury Wingate caviar on canvas New York 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, Gallery, New York 70% x 51Ye in. (180x 129.9 cm) Germon Speaking Mountain California 94102-4582 1987 Spitale Konstrucktlon Private collection, Milwaukee The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Is a galvanized fabric on wire 1988 Pyramlde privately funded, member-supported museum 11 x 30 x 20 In. (27.9 x 76.2 x 50.8 cm) roofl ath, bricks, and screws 1990 451/16x 321'/ 6 in. (114.5 x 83 receiving major support fromGrants for the Arts Collection of the artist 1 cm) wood of the Hotel the Collection of Peter Brams, New York unassembled: 108x 5 x 6 in. (274.3x11.7x15.2 cm) San Francisco Tax Fund and Untitled National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal 1987 Untitled Promised gift of the arclst to the San Francisco 1988 agency. paint, glue, buttons, and thread on canvas Museum of Modern Art; courtesy Thea Westreich 13¥.x 10Y. in. (34.9x 27.3 cm) button, shella.c,and paint on canvas Associates, New York 11¥. x 10 in. (29.8 x 25.4 cm) Private collection, Los Angeles Promised(Pyromlde) Courtesy of the artist and Koury Wing3te Gallery. 1990 Unmled New York 11/12 1987 wood unassembled:108 x 5x 6 in. (274.3 x11.7 x15.2 cm) buttons, thread, and shellac on canvas Untitled 1988 Courtesy Thea WestreichAssociates, New York 24x 18 In. (61x45.7 cm) button, thread, shellac,and paint on canvas Private collection, Los Angeles 12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm) Courcesy of the arnstand Koury Wingate Gallery, New York 1. � NfW I l

A SERIES OF RECENT WORK BY YOUNGER AND ESTABLISHED ARTISTS