Alfonso Hüppi - It would be nice - It already was! | Art Store

Academy Gallery Düsseldorf and VAN HAM Art Estate present ""It would be nice - It already was!" Alfonso Hüppi - His work and influence"

From 19 April to 7 July 2024, the Akademie-Galerie Düsseldorf is presenting the exhibition ""Schön wär's - schon war's!" Alfonso Hüppi - Work and Impact", curated by Dr Vanessa Sondermann. This catalogue presents the carefully curated selection of wooden works on display and for sale during the exhibition. Cubes, heads, shingles and staccato works blur the boundaries between object, sculpture and painting.

VAN HAM Art Estate has represented the artistic estate of Alfonso Hüppi since 2020. Further information on the VAN HAM Art Estate can be found on the official homepage.

The conceptual sculptor and draughtsman Alfonso Hüppi (*1935) is one of the most important representatives of the post-war avant-garde and postmodernism. The Swiss artist's works are characterised by a humorous bricolage aesthetic. The colourful wooden works of the well-known professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy (1974-1999) show a self-reflective work on the concept of the image, which in their brittle sensuality represent experiments in form between abstraction and figuration. His works can be found in the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, the Sprengel Museum Hannover, the Museum Frieder Burda Baden-Baden and the Kunsthaus Zürich, among others.

In the mid-1960s, Alfonso Hüppi began working on wooden objects, for which he became known. His pallet works are characterised by their range and sophistication of colour and form. The materials originally used for transporting art are transformed into artistic wall objects. The artist uses packaging materials such as pallets, crates and wooden boards to create colourful sculptures and wall reliefs. The artist creates a spatial depth effect by overpainting colours or motifs.n.

Parallel to the emergence of Concept Art and Minimal Art in the 1970s, Alfonso Hüppi focussed on the cube and other geometric forms. Following the principle of "unscrambling", "staggering" and "mirroring", he created monochrome wooden works consisting of squares of wooden boards mounted together to form an unfolded cube. The work process is brought to the point here and appears as an overall form.

Alfonso Hüppi's wooden objects from the 1980s vary greatly in size and shape and include small-format painted wooden shingles.

For the works from the 1990s onwards, in particular the panels, Alfonso Hüppi now uses other materials in addition to wood, such as handmade iron frames and Plexiglas. The numerous works made of wood take up the artist's typical head motif.

At the beginning of the 2000s, Alfonso Hüppi produced small-format wooden objects with their own symbolic language.

The Staccati group of works from the 2010s onwards is characterised by composite filigree wood shavings and pieces that radiate a strong vibrancy through their intense colours. The closely linked colour elements form a shimmering unity.

Exhibition
""It would be nice - it already was!" Alfonso Hüppi - his work and influence", curated by Dr. Vanessa Sondermann at the Academy Gallery Düsseldorf

Exhibition duration
19 April to 7 July 2024

Vernissage
15 April 2024, at 7 pm with a
Welcome by Professorin Donatella Fioretti, Rector Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and Dr. Vanessa Sondermann, Curator Akademi-Galerie

Exhibition venue:
Akademie-Galerie
Burgplatz 1
40213 Düsseldorf

Opening hours
Fri to Sun 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.

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For more information on the artist, please visit Alfonso Hüppi's official homepage::

Alfonso Hüppi