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"Breuning, critical
of what he regards as the overcodification of much recent
art, immerses himself in pop culture to ensure that his
own work remains accessible. Emphasizing a continuity between
daily life and the dreamworlds of fashion, film, and TV,
he refuses the possibility of a single, coherent truth.
And, like Mike Kelley before him, he employs adolescent
humor to bypass any lingering expectations of a po-faced,
grown-up "conclusion." But what remains is, despite
a much-touted but hardly distinctive use of an amateurist
vocabulary, a rather slick, perversely watchable, but ultimately
purposeless wig-out..."
Michael Wilson, Olaf
Breuning: Metro pictures, "ArtForum", April,
2004
"The play of signification
in Breuning borders on random nihilism. The props from one
of his projects could easily be substituted for those from
another. (It comes as no surprise that the artist researches
and buys all his materials on the Internet.) Everything
begins to merge in a primordial stew of uprooted meaning.
Critically, this is the sort of procedure that has high-art
purists--and their right-wing conservatisms--antsy. "The
time of hiding in a specific medium is over," says
Breuning. "It's just not enough anymore. I think a
lot of artists, critics, and other art freaks are more and
more bored with stereotypical art productions. They want
to be part of the everyday world and not part of the art
system. I just try to be honest with myself. I want to work
and speak the contemporary language of today. I don't care
about people who want to save high art. If they truly wish
to do that, I wish them a beautiful sleep. And if they happen
to be right wing, then they should be asleep anyway".
Chris Chang, Olaf Breuning
- Vision - Brief Article, Film Comment, July-August, 2002
"Breuning's photographs, however,
attempt neither to postulate a rigid and autonomous counter-world
nor to expose existing images as a surrogate reality. Alternative
worlds seem completely out of the question today anyway,
because "the image" and images of the world have
long since lost their connection. Instead, Breuning stages
a virtuosic game of cliches and codes. For the glossy photos
on exhibit, this means that a longing for historicity and
for myths of originality is met in an affirmative way. Even
silly-looking bundles of wood can indicate short raffia
skirts, though they don't even manage to cover the boxers
of the four half-naked young men. Hollywood methods and
stereotypes are used to construct an image of "natives"
in which the media-produced idea of authenticity is adopted
and produced anew. These constructions are the result of
various combinations of codes and are predicated on a purely
additive approach. Probably for this reason, the grim figures
in these pictures often recall those of Dutch gro up portraiture.
Breuning is in no way calling the truthfulness of images
into doubt. There is no moralistic finger pointing here;
rather, Breuning demonstrates how the simplest means suffice
to evoke in us deep-seated feelings or even ideas only made
possible by our familiarity with a reality created by the
media".
Philipp Kaiser, Olaf Breuning: Kunstverein
- Freiburg, "ArtForum", Dec. 2001.
"...he employs a visual language
of pop culture and music which he edits, denaturalizes,
makes disgusting. His interest is focused, among others,
on monstrous human forms, kitsch, excess, imbalance and
absurd humour".
http://www.mobileacademy-warsaw.com/polnisch/2006/images.html
Olaf Breuning
ub. 1970, Schaffchausen, Switzerland
1988 - 1993 studied photography, Zurich
1993 - 1996 postgraduate studies in photography,
HSFG, Zurich
1999 Atelier scholarship, New York
2000 awarded Manor Kunstpreis, Schaffhausen
2000 The Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation scholarship
lives and works in New York
selected solo exhibitions:
2006
UBS Wolfsberg, Wolfsberg,
CH
Centre d'art contemporain, Videokiosque, Paris, F
IMA, Brisbane, AUS
Nils Stark Contemporary Art, Kopenhaga, D
2005
Galeria Air de Paris, Pary¿, F
They Live, Chapter Visual Arts, Kardiff, GB
"Oh yes...it is a garden!", Galeria Chisenhale,
London, GB
Home, Kunst-Büro, Lupiod Lounge, Munchen, D
Galeria Kodama, Osaka, J
2004
Nils Stark Contemporary Art, Kopenhaga, D
Tell bitte malden, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum,
Zurich, CH
Galeria Kodama, Tokio, Japan
The New Stedelijk Museum CS/ Auditorium, Amsterdam, NL
Olaf Breunings videos, Association EDV, Toulouza,
F
Olaf Breunings films, La Casa Encendida, Madrid,
E
2003
Magasin - Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble,
F
Museo Garillo Gil, Mexico City, MEX
Under the Bridge, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain,
Strasburg, F
Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel, CH
Galeria Arndt & Partner, Berlin, D
2002
Hello Darkness, Swiss Institute, New York, USA
Galeria arsFutura, Zurich, CH
2001
Metro Pictures, New York, USA
Galeria Meyer & Kainer, Vienna, AUS
Galeria Arndt & Partner, Berlin, D
Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, D
Artspace, Auckland, NZ
Galeria Air de Paris, Paris, F
Museum zu Allerheiligen; Kunstverein Schaffhausen, Apes,
CH
2000 - 1997
Ugly Yelp, Galeria arsFutura, Zurich, CH
Galeria Air de Paris, Paris, F
Woodworld, Centre d'art contemporain, Geneva, CH
They Live!, Galeria arsFutura, Zurich, CH
Woodworld, Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus, CH
Schlund / Chris Croft, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, St.
Gallen, CH
BINZ39, Waldfest, Zurich, CH
selected group exhibitions:
2006
Impact Festival, Utrecht, NL
Seoul International Photography Festival, Seoul, ROK
Some Tribes, Galeria Scalo Guye, Los Angeles, USA
Programme Vidéo Suisse 3 Génerations, Spazio Culturale
Svizzero di Venezia, Venice, I
Human Game, Fundacja Pitti, Florence, I
Imagination Becoles Reality Part VI, Sammlung Goetz,
Monachium, D
Negative Space, Extended, Videonale / Kunstmuseum,
Bonn, D
Action, FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille,
F
Galeria Nicola von Senger, Zurich, CH
Metro Pictures, New York, USA
2005
Blankness is not a Void, Standard, Oslo, N
Works on Paper, Galeria Arndt & Partner, Berlin,
D
Naturellement Abstrait, L'art contemporain Suisse
dans la collection Julius Bär, Centre d'Art
Contemporain Geneve, Geneva, CH
The Zine UnBound: Kults, Werewolbes and Sarcastic Hippies,
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA
When Humor Becomes Painful, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst,
Zurich, CH
Migration Baustelle Schweiz, Toni Areal, Zurich,
CH
Nomad's Land, Miracle Association, Bayonne, F
Figure it Out, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary
Art, Peekskill, New York, USA
Viennastripe, Museum in Progress, Vienna, A
First We Take The Museums - Urban Arts Now, Kiasma
Nykytaiteen Museo, Helsinki, FIN
Burlesques contemporains, Jeu de Paume, Paris,
F
Growing up Absurd, Kent Institute of Art, Kent,
GB
Second Sight, The Prague Biennale of Contemporary
Art, Praga, CZ
2004
Mind the Gap, Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, D
Romantic Detachment, Henry Moore Contemporary Projects
i Galeria PS1, New York, USA
Sommerfrische: Künstlervideos mit Esprit, Hamburger
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, D
Tell bitte melden!, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum,
Zurich, CH
I am the Walrus, Cheim & Read, New York, USA
Skin Tight: The Sensibility of the Flesh, Museum
of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
The Aesthetical Impact of The B-movies on Contemporary
Art, Magazin 4 - Voralberger Kunstverein, Bregenz,
A
Boys Behaving Badly, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston,
Houston, USA
Short Stories, Photo Museum Provincie Antwerpen,
Antwerp, B
Dream Extensions, S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor
Aktuelle Kunst, Gent, B
2003
GAME ART Kunst Bildschirm und Wirklichkeit, Europäisches
Zentrum für Kunst und Industriekultur, Völklingen, D
10. Biennale de l'image on Mouvement: Swiss Art Video
Lobby, Centre pour l'image Contemporaine,
Geneva, CH
Les vingt ans du FRAC, Chapelle de la Sorbonne,
Paris, F
The Fourth Sex: Adolescence Extremes, Fondazione
Pitti Imagine, Florencja, I
Swiss Mix, Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid,
E
Venus im Pelz, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum,
Graz, A
MARS art and war, Neue Galerie, Graz, A
2002
Out of Control, Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool,
GB
Tutto normale, Villa Medici, Rome, I
2001
M-family, Migros Museum, Zurich, CH
Hypermental, Kunsthaus Zurych, CH; Kunsthalle Hamburg,
D
Let's Entertain, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, D; Museo
Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, MEX; Miami Art Museum, Miami,
USA
Der Gehilfe, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte
Dortmund, D; Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Barcelona, E
My Generation, Galeria Atlantis, London, GB
bdv (wideo), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, F
gravitaZERO, Fundacja Adriano Olivetti, Rome, I
Escape, Tirana Biennale, National Gallery, Tirana,
AL
Utopie politique et religieuse, Hay Art Center,
Jerewan, AR
...If a Double Decker Bus..., Galeria Air de Paris,
Paris, F
Contemporary Fairy Tales, Five Years Gallery, London,
GB
2000
Reality Bites, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nurnberg, D
Let's Entertain, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis;
Portland Art Museum, Portland, USA
Der Gehilfe, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Zurich,
CH
Guarene Arte 2000, Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo,
Torino, I
International Media Art Festival, Kiev, UA
Au-dela du spectacle, Centre Georges Pompidou,
Paris, F
Stadt, Land, Fluss, Galeria Arndt & Partner,
Berlin, D
Close-up, Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz, CH; Kunstverein
Freiburg, Freiburg, D
The arsFutura Show, Galeria arsFutura, Zurich,
CH
1999 - 1994
Eidgenösschische Wettbewerb für freie Kunst, Basel, CH
Statements, Art Basel, Galeria arsFutura, Zurich,
CH
DACH, Galeria Krinzinger, Wiedeñ, A
Come in and Find Out, vol. 2, Kunst-Werke. Institute
for Contemporary Art, Berlin, D
Missing Link, Kunstmuseum Bern, Berno, CH
From Camouflage to Free Style, Toasting Agency
in cooperation with the Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, F
wystawa stypendystów, Kunsthalle Zurich, Zurich, CH
Freie Sicht aufs Mittelmeer, Kunsthalle Schirn,
Frankfurt, D
Medium eine Welt dazwischen, Museum für Gestaltung,
Zurich, CH
Gewebeprobe, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen,
CH
Gross und Klein, Museum für Gestaltung Zurich,
Zurich, CH
Ernte, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, CH
8004 Zürich, the Peter Kilchmann Gallery, Zurich, CH
www.olafbreuning.com
bibliography
- Planet B. Die Ästhetik
des B-Movies in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, pub. Wolfgang Fetz, Judith
Reichart, Vorarlberger Kunstverein. Magazin 4 - Revolver - Archiv für
aktuelle Kunst, Bregenz, 2004.
- M_ars. Kunst und Krieg, pub. Günther Holler-Schuster, Peter
Weibel - Hatje Cantz Verlag, Graz, 2003.
- Phantom der Lust. Visionen des Masochismus, pub. Peter Weibel
- Belleville, Verlag Michael Farin, Graz, 2003.
- Michael Wilson, Olaf Breuning: Metro pictures, "Art Forum",
april 2004.
- Andreas Pfister, artnews.info.com, Death and the maiden - Olaf
Breuning: Hello Darkness, Zurych, 23.I.2003.
Different Articles on Web Pages:
- http://www.meyerkainer.at/artists/breuning/bre_sw.htm
- http://www.chisenhale.org.uk/html/files/
olaf_breuning_project_information.html
- http://www.artnet.com/artist/77404/olaf-breuning.html
[Translated by Ma³gorzata Sady]
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