Removing the Gaze
Exhibition | An exhibition by Max Neumann
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Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata, Kolkata
08 February – 09 March 2024, 3.00 pm to 6.30 pm daily, excluding Sundays and public holidays.
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata in collaboration with the Seagull Books is pleased to present the exhibition “Removing the Gaze” by Max Neumann.
Max Neumann is an important representative of German figuration. He turns the human figure into an abstract symbol, reducing his compositions to their essence. The collaged heads and bodies in “Removing the Gaze” have left sight and speech behind, their eyes and mouth are cut out from the face. This absence produces a sense of unease. The masklike faces or ‘non-faces’ are “lipless, but not mute and eyeless but not blind”, as art historian Hubertus von Amelunxen writes.
Neumann has developed a visual vocabulary born from innumerable sources, including drawings, painting, picture magazines, newspapers, and other media. Photographed and reproduced in newspapers or books, cut out, waxed and transposed form one surface to another, Neumann’s depictions of heads and bodies are placed in an unrooted space – dreamlike fragmented recollections reduced to the outline, shape and shadows of the originals. The artist leaves it to the viewer to fill in the gaps and construct imaginary narratives.
The exhibition will be opened on 08 February 2024 at 6.30 pm. The opening programme will include a conversation between Naveen Kishore, Publisher, Seagull Books and Astrid Wege, Director, Goethe-Institut Kolkata.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in 1949 in Saarbruck, Germany, Neumann studied art in Karlsruhe and later at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. He has been the recipient of many awards including the BDI (Germany Industry Federation), the Villa Romana Award, the Dr. Dietrich Schulz Foundation Award, the Award of the City of Iserlohn, and the Grand Prix de S.A.S. le Prince Rainer III of Monaco. Since the late 1970s the artist has had more than 150 solo exhibitions internationally. His works are in numerous public and private collections across the world. Max Neumann lives and works in Berlin.
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata in collaboration with the Seagull Books is pleased to present the exhibition “Removing the Gaze” by Max Neumann.
Max Neumann is an important representative of German figuration. He turns the human figure into an abstract symbol, reducing his compositions to their essence. The collaged heads and bodies in “Removing the Gaze” have left sight and speech behind, their eyes and mouth are cut out from the face. This absence produces a sense of unease. The masklike faces or ‘non-faces’ are “lipless, but not mute and eyeless but not blind”, as art historian Hubertus von Amelunxen writes.
Neumann has developed a visual vocabulary born from innumerable sources, including drawings, painting, picture magazines, newspapers, and other media. Photographed and reproduced in newspapers or books, cut out, waxed and transposed form one surface to another, Neumann’s depictions of heads and bodies are placed in an unrooted space – dreamlike fragmented recollections reduced to the outline, shape and shadows of the originals. The artist leaves it to the viewer to fill in the gaps and construct imaginary narratives.
The exhibition will be opened on 08 February 2024 at 6.30 pm. The opening programme will include a conversation between Naveen Kishore, Publisher, Seagull Books and Astrid Wege, Director, Goethe-Institut Kolkata.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in 1949 in Saarbruck, Germany, Neumann studied art in Karlsruhe and later at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. He has been the recipient of many awards including the BDI (Germany Industry Federation), the Villa Romana Award, the Dr. Dietrich Schulz Foundation Award, the Award of the City of Iserlohn, and the Grand Prix de S.A.S. le Prince Rainer III of Monaco. Since the late 1970s the artist has had more than 150 solo exhibitions internationally. His works are in numerous public and private collections across the world. Max Neumann lives and works in Berlin.
Location
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata
Park Mansions, Gate 4
57A, Park Street
Kolkata 700 016
India
Park Mansions, Gate 4
57A, Park Street
Kolkata 700 016
India
Location
Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata
Park Mansions, Gate 4
57A, Park Street
Kolkata 700 016
India
Park Mansions, Gate 4
57A, Park Street
Kolkata 700 016
India