Wednesday 15 February 2012

Horst Ademeit at Norma Mangione, Turin

Horst Ademeit
untitled, undated
mixed media on polaroid
11 x 9 cm

Over a period of more than twenty years Horst Ademeit (1937-2010) built up an archiveof thousands of photographs and texts. Although he considered himself an artist, Ademeit documented the impact of cold rays – radiations that he considered a healthhazard and a potential threat –with no particular artististic intent. To do so he usedmeasuring instruments and, in the margins of his Polaroid photos he meticulouslynoted down the circumstances, dates, and descriptions, which became increasinglycramped over the years.

His photographs are divided into two groups: 6006 numbered “daily photos”, takeneach day in his apartment, and “observation photos” taken in the Düsseldorf districtwhere he lived.

The exhibition will show selections from both series and the film Ademeit (2010) will be screened. Directed by the artist Michael Bauer and the director Marcus Werner Hed, the film was produced by Punderson Gardens. This documentary-portrait is a poignant journey into the work and life of Horst Ademeit, with an in-depth interview, an exploration of the places he lived in and which appear inhis photographs, and his own interpretation of them.

The way Ademeit conveys aspects of time and biography allow comparisons with conceptual artists such as Hanne Darboven, On Kawara, and Roman Opalka. And heshows how it is customary in art to find an openness to non-official scientific theories and to personal obsessions. But together with his radically systematic nature and unparalleled perseverance, the most interesting thing is that, as he himself declared, his method was an activity that kept him alive, and an objective reality through which he was able to counter invisible, subjective forces.

Galleria Norma Mangione

Via Matteo Pescatore 17, Torino

Tel. +39 011 5539231

info@normamangione.com

Mousse Magazine and Publishing

Via De Amicis 53,
20123, Milano, Italy
T: +39 02 8356631

www.moussemagazine.it

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