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TZID:Europe/Berlin
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UID:6a9a62704602a
LOCATION:Johannes-Stelling-Straße 29, 19053 Schwerin
SUMMARY;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Between the Elements: Günther Uecker and Nature
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Exhibition in the foyer of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Library:=0D=0AGünther Uecker=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AFrom August 31 to October 6, 2026, the State Library will offer=0D=0Ainsights into Günther Uecker’s views on nature. The exhibition will=0D=0Afeature photographs, texts, and examples of the artist’s work. These=0D=0Apieces document his art actions, but also convey a sense of poetry and=0D=0Aartistic aesthetics. The four elements—fire, water, earth, and=0D=0Aair—serve as the common thread running through this multifaceted=0D=0Amaterial.=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0A“As a child on the Baltic Sea,” said Günther Uecker=0D=0A(1930–2025), “I saw sky and water, earth and fire.” Yet only one=0D=0Aof his sculptural works engages with all four elements at once. As=0D=0Aearly as 1976, this cycle of horizontally positioned tableaux marked=0D=0Athe beginning of the artist’s long journey of engagement with=0D=0Anature—a journey that began behind Rerik on the Wustrow Peninsula.=0D=0AThe view of the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Salzhaff, the burning of=0D=0Adry grass for sheep grazing, and the furrows plowed through loamy soil=0D=0Awere experiences for Uecker that made the elements of nature=0D=0A“naturally familiar to him, even on a grand scale.”=0D=0A=0D=0ALater, Günther Uecker discovered unspoiled nature in Flanders and=0D=0AArizona, in Appenzell, in the Libyan Desert, in Iceland, and on an=0D=0A“island in the Atlantic.” Combined with his childhood impressions,=0D=0Athese places became for him sites of “free articulation.” The play=0D=0Aof light, the perception of structure, spatial effects, and=0D=0Atransience, the color white, and the departure from familiar=0D=0Adimensions characterize his view of nature. Early examples “apart=0D=0Afrom,” as he puts it, “the pluralistic world of imagination”=0D=0Ainclude the actions “White Forest” (1965) and “Flemish=0D=0ALandscape” (1967, in collaboration with Jeff Verheyen). Shortly=0D=0Athereafter, Uecker participated in the first Land Art exhibition in=0D=0Athe U.S. (1969). At the same time, he brought natural materials into=0D=0Athe museum space; a legendary example of this, even to the present=0D=0Aday, is his “Sand Spiral.”=0D=0A=0D=0AFrom August 31 to October 6, 2026, the State Library will offer a=0D=0Aglimpse into Uecker’s views on nature in its foyer. On display will=0D=0Abe photographs, texts, and examples of his work. These not only=0D=0Adocument his art actions but also convey poetry through verses such as=0D=0A“Exposed to the Winds” (1998) or, through their aesthetics, evoke=0D=0Athe essence of works like the print “Steppe Fire” (2008). The four=0D=0Aelements—fire, water, earth, and air—serve as the common thread=0D=0Arunning through this multifaceted material=0D=0A=0D=0A. Ancient natural philosophy traced all existence back to these four=0D=0Aprimordial elements. Even the vault of heaven was seen as surrounded=0D=0Aby water. Since then, art has visualized this interpretation in a=0D=0A=0D=0Aformal language appropriate to=0D=0A=0D=0Aits=0D=0A=0D=0Atime. For the ZERO ideas of many postwar artists of the 1950s and=0D=0A1960s, the return to these classical primordial elements also offered=0D=0Aan opportunity to start anew from ZERO and leave behind the burdens of=0D=0ANational Socialism. Günther Uecker drew on this concept early on and,=0D=0Atogether with Otto Piene and Heinz Mack, became one of the leading=0D=0Afigures of the ZERO movement in Germany. This break with established=0D=0Aways of seeing and perceiving art corresponded to the general desire=0D=0Aof the time for change and, thus, to the yearning for social renewal=0D=0Apar excellence: ZERO found comparable movements across much of Europe.=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AUecker’s art explored new materials and forms of expression,=0D=0Aventuring into uncharted territory to bring art into life and to break=0D=0Awith traditional views and bourgeois complacency. His work with=0D=0Anatural materials and phenomena—often capturing the fleeting nature=0D=0Aof a moment and the transience of a gesture—represents Uecker’s=0D=0Aattempt to distance himself from the art market. Museums are meant to=0D=0Abecome “livable spaces.”=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AIn many cases, the focus is on the artistic act itself, which leaves=0D=0Ano lasting work behind. Short films and photography become suitable=0D=0Amedia for preserving Uecker’s actions. The State Library is=0D=0Aexhibiting film stills from “Feuerblume,” “Schleifender=0D=0AStein,” and “Schlagstein” (all circa 1986). Works such as=0D=0A“Fallgrube” (Barricade Construction) trace the student unrest of=0D=0Athe ’68 movement. On display is a rare photographic document of=0D=0A“intermedia heidelberg” (1969). By transporting the object into=0D=0Athe open natural world, Uecker creates, as he himself puts it,=0D=0A“aesthetic references directed toward the real world.”=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0ASince the 1970s, travel has defined Günther Uecker’s relationship=0D=0Awith nature. In “Spuren auslöschen,” he works with his own=0D=0Asignature, as later film stills from 1986 also show. He drives nails=0D=0Ainto the sea (“Meeresplantage,” 1972) and into the desert as his=0D=0Asignature, drawing furrows there just as he once did on farmland in=0D=0AMecklenburg. Physically, he stages himself as part of nature, merging=0D=0Awith it in his actions as a battered creature, as a faceless being, in=0D=0Aorder to make existential connections visible (“Entangled in=0D=0ARopes,” 1986, or as “Sand Man,” 1970). Added to these, following=0D=0Athe Chernobyl nuclear disaster, are the so-called “Ash Pictures=0D=0A=0D=0A.”=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AMore recently, Uecker has increasingly interpreted nature and its=0D=0Aphenomena subjectively. Its wounds and their healing (the lithograph=0D=0A“Nagelbaum,” 2001, accompanied by the poem “Lichtung,” 1994)=0D=0Areflect the vulnerability of humanity. This long journey of artistic=0D=0Aexploration culminates in 2024 with four tall arcs of light serving as=0D=0Awindows in Schwerin Cathedral.=0D=0A=0D=0AUecker had returned to Wustrow, the place of his youth. Built on=0D=0Astilts, his studio hut stands there amid the beach grass. And when, on=0D=0Aan artist’s poster (1991), the grass chirps like violins in the=0D=0Awind, and right across from it the motif “Cosmos” (2003) leads the=0D=0Aexhibition visitor into the universe, may we recall the artist’s=0D=0Acall: “Let us try to grasp the unimagined.”=0D=0A=0D=0A_Dr. Andreas Roloff_=0D=0A=0D=0A_=0D=0A_=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AThe exhibition “Between the Elements: Günther Uecker and Nature”=0D=0Aruns from August 31 through October 6, 2026. Visits are possible=0D=0Aduring opening hours=0D=0A[https://www.kulturwerte-mv.de/Landesbibliothek/Service/%C3%96ffnungszeiten/].=0D=0A=0D=0AA short guided tour will be offered on September 9 and 30 at 1:00 p.m.=0D=0Aeach day. No advance registration is required. Admission is free.=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A=0D=0AThe Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Library Günther Uecker traces its=0D=0Aorigins to the Ducal Government Library, founded in 1779, and, as a=0D=0Acritical infrastructure, preserves significant historical collections=0D=0Aas well as a large collection of works from and about=0D=0AMecklenburg-Vorpommern. The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has=0D=0Alegally mandated the State Library in Schwerin to collect, catalog,=0D=0Aand archive the state’s current printed works for the future.=0D=0AAccording to state law and the ordinance on the deposit of printed=0D=0Aworks, all printed materials published in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern must=0D=0Abe deposited with the State Library free of charge within one month of=0D=0Apublication. The State Library acquires titles about=0D=0AMecklenburg-Vorpommern that are published outside the state. The State=0D=0ALibrary is a department of the State Office for Culture and Historic=0D=0APreservation. The historic building at its location on=0D=0AJohannes-Stelling-Straße is now part of the Schwerin UNESCO World=0D=0AHeritage Site.=0D=0A=0D=0A =0D=0A
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CLASS:PUBLIC
DTSTART:20260909T130000
DTSTAMP:20260904T081720
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