Andrea Büttner: Shepherds and Kings

The German artist Andrea Büttner creates exhibitions that connect art history with social or ethical issues, such as poverty, work, community and belief. Her work is based on thorough research into specific areas or situations, articulated through formats such as woodcuts, stained glass and weaving, but also videos, photography, and works with moss. In her exhibition Shepherds and Kings, Büttner presents three large-scale projected slide shows, shown together for the first time, that mark important strands of her research, further complemented by furniture and a series of wall installations made from textiles used for workers’ uniforms. 

The shepherd and the king are two symbolic motifs that Büttner’s research has focused on over the past few years, continuing her interest in themes such as shame, vulnerability and dignity, as well as the belief systems that underpin them. The title work Shepherds and Kings (2017) is a collection of art-historical images, showing how shepherds and kings have been represented in Nativity scenes throughout art history. Büttner’s collection of shepherds and kings, as well as an earlier selection of historical representations of beggars, offer new ways of understanding familiar images that form a part of the collective imagination. Initially associated with religious themes, as parts of a history of the representation of poverty and power, these images are still relevant today, especially in relation to debates concerning access to social benefits and social responsibility. 

The Archive of the Lives of the Little Sisters of Jesus with Circuses and Fun Fairs, Tre Fontane, Rome (2012) shows the life and work of the Little Sisters of Jesus, a contemplative order of nuns that doesn’t missionise, but instead shares in other people’s secular working lives. In Büttner’s installation, the Little Sisters’ own archive of photographs depicts their work at several circuses and funsfairs all over the world throughout the history of the order. The Sisters’ sincere devotion and an unselfish wish to give runs counter to the otherwise market-oriented experience economy of our time. The images portray the lifestyle of the nuns, working in an all-female collective, which oscillates between religion and politics, between contemplation and spectacle, and problematises what is considered as a political strategy. Also included in the exhibition is a series of benches with backrests produced by Büttner in collaboration with a weaver who normally makes priest gowns. Mounted on the wall, the backrests operate simultaneously as paintings and as functional seating, with the viewer placed with their back to the work. 

The third series, Stereoscopic slide show from the Whitehouse collection (mosses and field trips) (2014), shows figures in crouched postures, bending over and creeping along the ground as they search for mosses, in addition to close-ups of various moss types. Previously classed as a “lower plant” by botanists, moss grows horizontally along the ground in the shadow of other plants, and is felt by people underfoot. Büttner is interested in the “queerness” or “hidden sexuality” of mosses, which are classed as cryptogams: moss reproduction is concealed—there is no true flower or seed. The slide show, and a new installation with moss-covered stones, point to the extraordinary complexity and beauty of these plants, with their ability to grow on almost any surface.

Andrea Büttner (b. 1972) has shown internationally, amongst others at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2015); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2014); documenta 13, Kassel (2012); and was nominated for the Turner Prize 2017. Shepherds and Kings is the largest solo presentation by the artist in the Nordic region.


Tony Cokes
Evil, Mediation, and Power​
August 24-October 28
Since the 1980s Tony Cokes has developed his own distinct visual style in video works that combine political discourse with media reflection. Animated text rolls across bright colour surfaces, in combination with music and film clips taken from various media and popular culture. Cokes’ practice is to a great extent based on what can be called sampling. Text, sound and images are taken from different sources and combined in videos with a strikingly precise result, referencing art history (Pop and Conceptual Art) as well as advertising and political propaganda. As installations, Cokes’ videos are both aesthetically immersive and create a hypnotic effect with their continuous flow of text and images that directly address the viewer.

Tony Cokes (b. 1956) lives and works in Providence, RI, where he is Professor of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. Recent exhibitions include Greene Naftali Gallery (2018); The 10th Berlin Biennale (2018); Hessel Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson (2016), Whitechapel Gallery, London (2015); SFMOMA, San Francisco (2010) and ZKM, Karlsruhe (2008).

Plattform Events:
August 25, 12pm 
Andrea Büttner in conversation with Axel Wieder. 

October 13, 2pm
Christopher P. Heuer, University of Rochester, New York, on Andrea Büttner and the representation of poverty in art.

October 27, 2pm 
Tony Cokes in conversation.

The conversations and talks will be streamed live on www.kunsthall.no and made available as a video on Vimeo


Terre Thaemlitz
October 16–17
Legendary multi-media producer, performer and DJ Terre Thaemlitz visits Bergen Kunsthall for a two-day residency of live performances that explore hospitality, silence withdrawal and invisibility as necessary tools for survival. As owner of the Comatonse Recordings record label and a speaker on issues of Transgenderism and Queerness, Thaemlitz is known for her work that critically combines themes of identity with an ongoing critique of the socio-economics of commercial media production.

Thaemlitz’s residency is part of the autumn programme of artist commissions, Who’s doing the washing up?, addressing questions that often go unmentioned when thinking of possible futures and the voices and work involved in developing and sustaining them. Other commissions in the series include Jordi Ferreiro, Aliyah Hussain and Anna Bunting-Branch. Who’s doing the washing up? is part of Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

October 16 at 8pm
Hospitality, Secrecy and Other Useless Movements 
Terre Thaemlitz and Laurence Rassel
Live broadcast from Bergen Kunsthall and on radiOrakel

October 17 at 8pm 
Lovebomb/Ai No Bakudan 
Terre Thaemlitz 
Thaemlitz presents a rare live concert—an amalgam of lecture, audio and video.