Andreas Bunte, Der Garten des M. Leretnac, 2006, 16 mm Film, s/w, Ton, 8:42 min, Courtesy der Künstler und Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin

Andreas Bunte, Der Garten des M. Leretnac, 2006, 16 mm Film, s/w, Ton, 8:42 min, Courtesy der Künstler und Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin

Andreas Bunte, Der Garten des M. Leretnac, 2008, 16 mm film, b/w, sound, 8:42 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, Der Garten des M. Leretnac, 2008, 16 mm film, b/w, sound, 8:42 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, Der Garten des M. Leretnac (Ensemble 2), 2008, Various materials, 74 x 54 cm, Private collection, Zurich, Courtesy Häusler Contemporary, Zürich/München
Andreas Bunte, La Fée Electricité, 2007, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 12 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, La Fée Electricité, 2007, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 12 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, La Fée Electricité, 2007, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 12 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, La Fée Electricité, 2007, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 12 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, O.T. (Architekturfilm), 2006, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 6:04 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, O.T. (Wohnung), 2006, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 6:40 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, Loboda, 2005, 16 mm film, b/w, silent, 2:06 min, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin
Andreas Bunte, Autonomous units, 2005, map, ink, Letraset letters, 54 x 57,8 cm, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin, Photo: Katrin Rother, Berlin

Andreas Bunte

JANUARY 17 – MARCH 08, 2009

Andreas Bunte’s (*1970, D) works are based on extensive research into topics, which he links by literary, auditive and visual means to create a number of narrative spatial collages. Central to his 16 mm films and spatial installation works is his critical engagement with past chapters of Western culture and its history of ideas. Here, he investigates particularly the historical changes brought on by technological innovation and societal upheaval, as well as what was symbolic of them in the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting out from his interest in utopia, in visions and the idea of the »Gesamtkunstwerk«, Bunte develops hybrid narratives, artistic continuations and rewrites, which allow the observer a range of readings. His many thematic motifs range from an investigation of the changing relationship in the tension between society, human beings and nature, the significance of public parks and the development of artificial light to a study of architectural symbols and figures at the margins of society. His 16mm films give evidence of their own media history: Bunte’s black-and-white films are based, on the one hand, on analogue technologies of production, cutting and presentation, and on the other they seem inspired by early experimental or amateur films. He includes in his filmic spatial compositions photographic and material collages, which, in their formal language and by way of their scientific as well as artistic mise-en-scène, are evocative of classic forms of museal presentation. As subjective as his narratives may be, his films and works on paper nevertheless leave open the question as to the story’s author and prompt debate on the conglomeration of assembled facts and fictive elements, as well as their states of being. With this, they are sharpening the observers’ view of current events and challenge them to come up with a statement of their own.

The exhibition presents four filmic installations, here brought together for the first time, to give a multi-facetted view of Bunte’s artistic oeuvre from 2005 onwards.

Andreas Bunte (*1970 in Mettmann) lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. His works were recently shown at the following exhibitions: »Die letzten Tage der Gegenwart«, Galerie Ben Kaufmann, Berlin 2006; »Wessen Geschichte«, Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg 2008; »Blick nach vorn. Ankäufe der Sammlung Zeitgenössische Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1998-2008«, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin 2008; »After October«, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York 2008.

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