ALISON KNOWLES, Bread and Water, 1992
ca 20 x 14 x 2 cm
woolen glove, paint, ink stamped and PVC plasticised label, rope
machine types text
signed with initials, dated
inv.AKno 000-pr
This apparently used glove has an industrial paint coating. The text on the attached label reads: Scratch plastic surface of glove to the ear. When this is done the hardened paint makes indeed some kind of a rustling noise. Although it is known that Alison Knowles noticed that the cracks in homemade bread had a resemblance to rivers, it is unknown to what the noise of this woolen glove may possibly refer to.
This item is part of found objects in the series “Bread and Water” by Alson Knowles, collected in 1992 on the occasion of the “Da Capo” Fluxus event in Wiesbaden on behalf of the 30th Fluxus anniversary. All objects have a tag and were probably part of a Moon Circle event.
Additional information: ‘Alison Knowles is neither a composer nor a performer in any traditional terms, yet much of her work is obviously some sort of music. When pressed to categorize herself, she told me she conceives most of her works simply as events. Yet even this catch-all term does not include her sculpture and prints, or her books and poems. But while she works in many media or intermedia, everything she does comes out of the same basic impulses: a concern for communication between human beings, an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of ordinary objects, a deep respect for John Cage, and a profound understanding of what “communicating” is really about.’ Tom Johnson in Musical America, 1975.
Interview with Alison Knowles: https://www.fluxusheidelberg.org/interviewwithalisonknowles_v1.3.pdf
JONATHAN MEESE, ‘Stirnband ‘Bruzzzelee’, Shing Shang Scheu, 2009
27 x 14 x 20 cm
styrofoam, fabric, paint, acetate
edition 120 + 20 AP, here nr 64/120
signed, numbered
pristine condition
published by Texte zur Kunst, Berlin, Germany
€ 950,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace registered mail
History of prices:
Artists24, Düsseldorf, Germany € 800,- February 2024
eBay-galerie-m1, Edenkoben, Germany € 4.000,- 5 September 2021
eBay-sehfahrt, € 5.400 – € 7.560 8 August 2021
Grisebach, Berlin, Germany € 1.290,- March 2021
Galerie m2, Ebenkoben, Germany € 3.500,- August 2013
eBay, € 658,- April 2010
KRISTJAN GUDMUNDSSON, Ef/If, 1974
21 x 21 cm
SC, 4 pp., hand bound; screen print on various kinds of paper, glued, linen spine
edition 200, here 1/200
signed, numbered
only 3-5 copies have been produced
published by Silver Press, Amsterdam / Reykjavík
condition: yellowed cover, with light bend in cover, extremely rare
€ 4.000,- plus Track & Trace registered mail
inv.KG 1048-pr
In the seventies Kristján Gudmundsson lived with his family in a large appartement in the Daniel Stalpaertstraat in Amsterdam. He produced more than a few books and “Ef/If” was one of his hand made artist’s books published by Silver Press, founded and owned by himself in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The complete book is in screen print, also the printed text on tracing paper that introduces the concept of the book: Ef staer∂ þessarar si∂u táknar ibúafjölda jar∂arinnar, þá tákna hringarnir ibúi Kina, Tanzaníu of Íslands.
If the size of this page represents the number of people in the world, then the circles represent the people of China, Tanzania and Iceland.
The works of Kristján Gudmundsson invite to contemplate on his method of working related to what his art encompasses. Usually texts on his works contain either personal memories or chronological summery. In fact, in many works he attempts time by time again to capture factual data into hand sized works, like here in this thin booklet that contains the amount of inhabitants of China, Tanzania and Iceland. In the middle of the last page a tiny bright white screen printed (sic) dot of 1 mm diameter may be detected, when exposed to strong daylight.
Right from the start the production of the book caused problems. In order to keep the costs low the text was prepared for the printer through adhesive letters, hence the dancing letters on the title page. The running direction of paper was not taken into account which caused waving binding. The very thin tracing paper of the first page stuck to the screen when printed. And the most problematic part of the book was the white circular dot of less than 1 millimeter on the last page; with a magnifying glass the print had to be checked every time, and more than quite often no dot at all could be detected; again a misprint or in fact no print. Not being well provided with enough production money Kristján Gudmundsson soon stopped the printing of the book.
A very fragile and extremely difficult book to find; in Kristján Gudmundsson’s catalogues and monographs this book is always overlooked. Therefore, by now it may be considered almost as a unique work of art. KvG
JOHN M ARMLEDER, Cercle et Carré, 1987
ca 130 x 30 x 20 cm
handmade pedestal; wood, paint, lamp, perforated metal plate, electricity wire
signed, numbered on certificate with instructions
edition 18, here 12/18
published by Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin, Germany
condition: excellent, although painted pedestal with original patine has minor paint chips
€ 4.600,- plus transport costs
inv.JMA 1046-47
Sometimes an edition is loaded with information about the artist’s mindset while its appearance suggests the opposite, for a part due to its self-evidence. Such a piece is ‘Cercle et Carré’ with its geometrical forms, the aesthetics of simplicity, the functionality of formal design, the ambition of the avant-garde and humour; it is all there.
John Armleder is renowned for re-introducing abstract art in a dominating one-way art market in the early eighties of the previous century, for referring to predecessors in art history (hence the title ‘Cercle et Carré’) and for ‘making art that is comparable to making a B-film’ as he describes it. In this sense this edition is as banal as that. ‘Cercle et Carré’ has the look of a modernist Italian design, yet all three parts have been composed and put together by the artist, as if it is an installation. He put together lamp, pedestal and a piece of metal, then switched on the light. KvG
In the eighties John M Armleder told me that the work he makes is similar to making B-movies. Here one could conclude that ‘Circle et Carré’ looks very much like the work of a designer. Indeed the lamp on itself is a design, but his installation with metal grid on the wall is a remarkable ephemeral addition by the artist.
Furniture Sculpture 193, Caprice, 1988
Ø 25,4 cm
engraving on bowling ball Caprice by Columbia, vinyl bag
edition 24
engraved signature and number
comes with vintage label used in booth Art Publishers at Art Basel Edition 1992
published by Gallery Daniel Newburg, New York, USA
€ 3.500,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace registered mail
inv.JMA 994-label
Furniture Sculpture 267, 1991
ca 278 x 104 x 110 cm
flexible aluminum tubes in handmade wooden box
edition 30, 3 versions signed, numbered, dated on certificate
GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITIONS
1 tube € 5.200,- edition 10
2 tubes € 6.600,- edition 10
3 tubes € 12.800,- edition 10
When John Armleder made this multiple in 1991 he was quite intrigued by the transportability of this foldable and compact multiple. He considers this sculptural edition as an ultimate example of a multiple that is a true three dimensional work, and yet can very easily be carried around to any place on the world.
Furniture Sculpture 191, 1988
ca 48 x 38 x 12 cm
synthetic fur cat-bed
edition of 30
signed, numbered, dated
GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITIONS
€ 4.200,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace registered mail
For preparing his first solo exhibition in The Netherlands John Armleder asked me to drive him around to all kinds of shops and places. In the Makro – a supermarket for shopkeepers in the outskirts of Amsterdam – he was attracted by beds for pets. Amongst other things one large grey blue dog bed was picked out by him and taken to the gallery. Later on he remembered to have seen a huge pile of smaller brown coloured cat beds. Of these he could make a multiple, he said. The next day thirty cat beds were bought at Dutch building material supermarket Gamma and a GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITION was made.
John M Armleder: ”Arrivé dans la galerie, je sus immédiatement que j’avais commis l’erreur de ne pas m’en être procuré une grande provision afin de faire un multiple, mais Kees van Gelder corrigea cette bévue et nous eûmes bientôt trente petits lits (un stock de taille: où dormiront les petits chiens de la région ?) que je m’appliquai à signer et numéroter.”
JCJ VANDERHEYDEN, Zilveren Spiegel, 1991 [mirror]
38,9 x 35,9 x 3,5 cm
mirror, wood, paint
signed, date, year
series of 2 unique works with yellow inner brims
€ 3.850,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace EU registered mail
inv.JCJ 1033
JCJ Vanderheyden has produced various mirrors, most of the time for the sake of an exhibition in order to play with repetition through mirroring. This one comes with two yellow painted glass laths, i.e. one on the lower side and one on the right side. A method he uses on the edges of his paintings as well. The horizontal and vertical painted laths reappear in the reflection of the mirror.
VIKTOR & ROLF, 2019
10,5 x 14,5 x 4 cm
Christmas hanger; glass, tin tag ‘HEMA – VIKTOR&ROLF’
limited edition ‘Jingle bows’
published by HEMA, Amsterdam
mint condition
Collection Thora K. Johansen, Amsterdam
inv.V&R 1023
The image below was part of the PR announcements on the website of HEMA during the November/December 2019 campaign.
inv.JMA 1045
