Anna Oppermann: Drawings

Anna Oppermann: Drawings will be the first solo exhibition of Anna Oppermann’s (1940–1993) work in the United States in 20 years. The exhibition features a survey of the German artist’s early drawings alongside one of her first “ensemble” installations.

Beginning in the mid-1960s through the early ’70s, Oppermann created an astonishing series of surreal, almost psychedelic drawings that uniquely and quietly explode the private space of the home, and her experience within it. These early drawings contribute to a feminist re-centering of spheres traditionally associated with women, casting everyday objects as symbolic, consequential protagonists: houseplants sprawl to take over the picture plane, windows and mirrors provide views into other worlds, and tables display drawings that themselves open out into new domestic scenes. Beginning with a makeup mirror, she constructed her installations through an observation of optical reflections to shift and expand the perception of space reflected from multiple, overlapping perspectives. Combining large drawings, photographs of drawings, and photo-canvases depicting her installations, Oppermann borrowed equally from the display methods of museums, informal memorials, home interiors, and retail stores to create her “ensembles.”

The accompanying publication will be the first Oppermann book produced in the United States and will feature a new text on her work by Connie Butler, Chief Curator, Hammer Museum, UCLA; an essay by Meta Marina Beeck, Assistant Curator, Kunsthalle Bielefeld; and a conversation between Carpenter Center director Dan Byers and Ute Vorkoeper, Curator, Anna Oppermann Estate. The catalog is co-published with Inventory Press, Los Angeles. 

Anna Oppermann
Exhibitions of Oppermann’s work have been staged at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany (2017); S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium (2017); Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, Spain (2016); Villa Arson, Nice, France (2012); Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin, Germany (2010); Generali Foundation, Vienna, Austria (2007); Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany (2007); and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York (1999). She participated in major international exhibitions, including the 5th Sydney Biennale (1984); 39th Venice Biennale (1980); documenta 6 (1977) and 8 (1987), Kassel, Germany; and 9th Paris Biennale, France (1975). The Anna Oppermann Estate is represented by Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.

Upcoming 2019–2020 exhibitions:

Jonathan Berger: An Introduction to Nameless Love

October 17–December 29, 2019

An Introduction to Nameless Love expands and merges multiple facets of the artist’s practice including experimental forms of research and non-fiction, oral history and biographical narrative, sculpture, installation, curatorial practice, and exhibition design. Co-commissioned and co-presented by the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and Participant Inc., with a publication co-published with Karma, New York.

Tony Cokes: If UR Reading This It’s 2 Late, Vol II
January 31–April 12, 2020

Tony Cokes provides an opportunity to see two new commissions by Cokes alongside a range of works made since the 1980s. Co-organized with Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (September 28, 2019–January 12, 2020) and ARGOS centre for audiovisual arts, Brussels (April–July 2020). A publication with newly commissioned texts will be co-published between the organizing institutions and Goldsmiths Press, London.

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

Free and open to the public, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts is the center for contemporary art and artists at Harvard University. Housed within Le Corbusier’s only building in North America, the Carpenter Center was built in 1963 to accommodate the university’s art and film studios alongside a dynamic exhibition program, and continues its artist-centered programing through exhibitions, public events, new commissions, publications, and residencies.