Franz Ackermann
"Franz Ackermann is a traveller, taking elements from urban scenes and setting them in order in pictorial structures. The artist describes a movement in a city environment, through which the space is created by him. He consistently describes his city views as 'mental maps'. "
Untitled (mental map: evasion VIII)(1997) Öl auf Leinwand, 200 x 210 cm
© Franz Ackermann, Courtesy neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Untitled (Mental Map: Evasion IX) (1998), Öl auf Leinwand / oil and acrylic on canvas, 150 x 220 cm, Sammlung/Collection DaimlerChrysler
Mental Map: Evasion VI (1996), Acrylic on Canvas, 195 x 210cm, � Saatchi. (read: saatchi sucks.)
Mental Map: Evasion V
New Building (1999), Oil on Canvas, 260 x 200cm
Zooropa (2001), Oil on Canvas, 200 x 250cm
Helicopter XVI (On the balcony) (2001), Oil on Canvas, 287 x 278cm
Untitled (Evasion XIII - 5 Star Tropical) (1997)
installation view at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL 2002
(c) 2002 Franz Ackermann / courtesy Neugerriemschneider Gallery
Can't be a Mango Tree Here or Something (2002)
Installation, Öl auf Leinwand; Holz; Wandmalerei; Einbau; Mental Map, Beach Party; Video; Foto; Hängemappe; Fotokopien; Farbfoto
a1: Installation view at Tate Liverpool, U.K. 2001, (c) 2001 Franz Ackermann / courtesy Neugerriemschneider Gallery
a2: Deutche Bank
b1: Installation view at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL 2002, (c) 2001 Franz Ackermann / courtesy Neugerriemschneider Gallery
b2: Installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Torino, Italy 2000, (c) 2001 Franz Ackermann / courtesy Neugerriemschneider Gallery
"The work of German artist Franz Ackermann, born 1963, predominantly centres on themes relating to travel, tourism, globalisation and urbanism. His first major series, 'Mental Maps' were produced during a stay in Hong Kong and combined the factual precision of traditional street maps with the artist's own acute awareness of the environment within which he was located. These small watercolours were a documentation of his own experiences and significantly his personal mental perception of the great cities of Asia, South America and Australia.
Developed from this initial starting point, Ackermann has gone on to create large-scale mixed media environments that encompass the viewer and rejects the idea of the neutrality of the gallery space. Disorienting and dynamic, the viewer is forced to encounter and absorb the work that mirrors the excitement and constant flux of the modern metropolis."-- White Cube (http://www.whitecube.com)
Instalation Views:
http://www.tomiokoyamagallery.com/e_kako_show/e_050319.html
http://mypage.bluewin.ch/mai36/Franz-Ackermann02.html
http://www.exporevue.com/magazine/fr/ackermann.html
Resources:
http://www.gavinbrown.biz/artists/ackermann.html
Art Fourum Article
Interview