John Armleder

Opening Reception: Friday, September 8, 6-8pm

An installation of hundreds of drawings—hung wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling—this exhibition presents an expansive and experimental view of drawing itself. Selected from private collections and from the artist's studio are works in pen and ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil, and collage on paper, as well as original books and a special edition of wallpaper created especially for the exhibition. Installed by the artist at ICA, this exhibition exists as a work in its own right—temporary and site specific.

John Armleder (b. 1948, Geneva, Switzerland, lives Geneva) is a performance artist, sculptor, and painter, whose multi-faceted activities are connected by drawing. Affiliated with Fluxus in the late 1960s and 70s, the value of ephemerality and notion that art is the conduction of creative energy are imperative to his work. During the 1980s, his "furniture sculpture" was highly visible within the context of "New Geometry" or "Neo Geo." John Armleder is widely known and respected as the co-founder of the Group Ecart, which has been endorsing the work of artists (Christian Marclay and Karen Kilminik among them) since the 1970s through its publications, exhibitions and representation at art fairs.

This is the first major exhibition of John Armleder's work in the United States. A highly influential, established figure within the international community, Armleder's work has been exhibited extensively throughout Europe. Although he is partially based in New York, his art and reputation are under-recognized in America.

This exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Zürich, which presented a survey of the artist's drawings in fall 2004. The installation has been modified by Kunsthalle curator Beatrix Ruf in association with the artist and ICA Director Claudia Gould for its presentation at ICA. The exhibition will be accompanied by an English edition of the Kunstall Zürich catalog with essays by John Armleder, Parker Williams, Beatrix Ruf, Christoph Cherix and acknowledements by Claudia Gould.

John Armleder, About Nothing.
Works on Paper 1962-2007