Markus Lüpertz
Recent Works
January 20–March 29, 2014
Cardi gallery
Corso di Porta Nuova
38 – 20121 Milan
T +39 02 45478189
F +39 02 45478120
info [at] galleriacardi.com
Cardi gallery, the Milan-based modern and contemporary art gallery, is pleased to present Recent Works, an exhibition of eight paintings from 2011 and 2012 by one of the most important German painters of his generation, Markus Lüpertz. Recent Works opens on January 20 and will remain on view through March 29, 2014.
Markus Lüpertz is a highly prolific painter and sculptor as well as an accomplished poet and critical writer. Though firmly grounded in tradition, Lüpertz strives for renewal in his every creative act. Since the emergence of his first mature paintings in the mid-1960s, he stands as a polarizing figure, an uncompromising artist who consistently ignores the proscriptions of the zeitgeist to form his own way forward. His first works addressed “pop” imagery—a common theme among artists at that time—but with an extemporaneous paint handling typically associated with the previous generation’s expressionist style. Throughout the ensuing decades, Lüpertz continued to expand (or disappoint) viewers’ expectations of what a painting should, or could, be. His “German Motif” paintings of the 1970s tackled major themes of post-war German identity, a subject many considered to be taboo. While many of his contemporaries were occupied with postmodernism, in the 1980s Lüpertz used his art to reexamine the importance of narrative in painting.
Lüpertz’s insistence on the primacy of painting, steeped as it is in materiality, feeling, narrative and history, forms a complicated artistic worldview, which is often (and all too easily) discredited within the contexts of postmodernism and the persistent theory-heavy dialogue surrounding contemporary art. Lüpertz’s position is further complicated by his unabashed appreciation for classicism and his frequent exploration of figuration. Consequently and despite his numerous creative achievements, Lüpertz has been largely misunderstood, at times flatly ignored, by the critical mainstream.
In this series of later works, Lüpertz continues to delve into literary and classical themes. Drawing from his imagination, each individual canvas reveals an intense investigation into the elusive common ground between abstraction and figuration. This approach is at the core of Lüpertz’s creative process, one that continues to influence and inspire a younger generation of German painters today. This series further illustrates that Lüpertz does not claim on any one stylistic approach, but instead remains free to re-imagine major stylistic conventions of modern art; this is perhaps the artist’s greatest achievement.
About the artist
Markus Lüpertz was born in 1941 in Liberec, Bohemia, in the current Czech Republic, and emigrated to West Germany at the age of seven. As a teenager he worked for one year in a coal mine and later earned a living building roads. Largely self-taught, he studied briefly at the academies in Krefeld and Düsseldorf before moving to Berlin in 1962. There, in 1964, Lüpertz co-founded Galerie Grossgörschen 35, an artist-run cooperative where he presented his first solo exhibition of paintings. Lüpertz has gone on to exhibit his work throughout Germany and Europe and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Villa Romana prize; the German Critics Association Prize; and the Julio González prize. Lüpertz served as director of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1987 to 2009. Major solo museum exhibitions include Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunstsammlung Nordhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; IVAM Centro Julio González, Valencia; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; and Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. The most comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s work was organized in 2009 by the Kunst- und Austellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. Markus Lüpertz lives and works in Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe, Germany.
About Cardi gallery
Cardi gallery is located in the heart of Milan and specializes in Italian modern and post-war contemporary art. In April 1972, Renato Cardi founded the gallery to pursue his passion for promoting and collecting contemporary Italian artists. The gallery has cultivated and helped build the careers of many Italian artists. In the 1970s, Renato began collecting the work of under-recognized artists such as Lucio Fontana and Michelangelo Pistoletto and started to build a distinguished collection of work from the Arte Povera movement. Through the support of these artists and by presenting their work at Cardi gallery, both the gallery and Renato gained a reputation for being a critical steward and launching their careers. The gallery has been active for more than 30 years, and each year Cardi gallery produces four major exhibitions and participates in international art fairs. Today, along with his son Nicolò Cardi, he continues to use the gallery as a platform to shape the arts and culture landscape in Milan and throughout Italy.
In 2008, Nicolò Cardi opened Cardi Black Box gallery in Milan as a contemporary branch of Cardi gallery. This new extension demonstrates the Cardi family’s commitment to nurture young artists and Nicolò’s interest and success in bringing international art to Europe. Cardi Black Box gallery presents an average of six exhibitions and participates in approximately ten international art fairs annually.
Media contacts:
Justin Conner, FITZ & CO: T 212 627 1455 x233 / justin [at] fitzandco.com
Liza Eliano, FITZ & CO: T 212 627 1455 x224 / liza.eliano [at] fitzndco.com
Elena Bodecchi, Cardi gallery: T +39 045478189 / elena [at] cardiblackbox.com