Author Description

Formalism. Modern Art, today examines the attitudes of a younger generation of artists born in the late 1960s and early 1970s toward issues of a decidedly formal nature. What role do purely aesthetic considerations play within the context of the conceptual, socially relevant art of today? The basic premise underlying the concept is that formalism-aesthetic autonomy-and social commitment are not mutually exclusive. Many of the artists presented in this publication take up the visual repertoire of Modernism, reflecting on its historical character and transposing it into the sphere of current theoretical and social discourse. Artists featured (selection): Tomma Abts (D), Markus Amm (D), Carol Bove (USA), Sergej Jensen (DK), Michaela Meise (D), Jonathan Monk (GB), Helen Mirra (USA), Cathy Wilkes (IRL) Exhibition schedule: Kunstverein Hamburg, October 9, 2004 -January 9, 2005.