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.

inv.JMA 1045
 

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.”