Karl-Heinz Bogner: Places, Spaces, Notations

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Karl-Heinz Bogner Orte, Räume, Notationen / Places, Spaces, Notations

Karl-Heinz Bogner Orte, Räume, Notationen Places, Spaces, Notations

Karl-Heinz Bogner Orte, Räume, Notationen Places, Spaces, Notations

AADR Architekturgalerie am WeiĂ&#x;enhof 978-3-88778-595-6

Karl-Heinz Bogner Orte, Räume, Notationen Places, Spaces Notations AADR

Herausgeber / Editor architekturgalerie am weißenhof e.V. Der Katalog zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung an der architekturgalerie am weißenhof / The catalogue is published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name at architekturgalerie am weißenhof 16. Juli 2020 – 18. Oktober 2020 / 16th July – 18th October 2020 Kuratiert von / curated by Christian Holl

© Copyright 2020 by architekturgalerie am weißenhof, Karl-Heinz Bogner and AADR (Spurbuchverlag) ISBN 978-3-88778-595-6 Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet unter http://www.dnb.de abrufbar The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://www.dnb.de Publication rights by Spurbuchverlag 1. print run 2020 Am Eichenhügel 4, 96148 Baunach, Germany All rights reserved.

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Inhalt / Contents 6 Anverwandelte Architektur / Adopted Architecture Zur Arbeit von Karl-Heinz Bogner / On the works by Karl-Heinz Bogner Klaus Jan Philipp 16 Karl-Heinz Bogner Orte, Räume, Notationen / Places, Spaces, Notations 18 Ausstellung / Exhibition 26 Zeichnungen / Drawings 48 Objekte / Objects 58 Karl-Heinz Bogner Biografie, Ausstellungen, Publikationen / Biography, Exhibitions, Publications 64 Impressum / Imprint

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Adopted Architecture On the works by Karl-Heinz Bogner Karl-Heinz Bogner is a crossover artist. He refuses to be clearly assigned to one of the genres of painting, graphic art, or sculpture.

With an open mind and yet with searching precision he roams between them in a way that is hard to define; sometimes he leans more this way, then the other. Bogner studied architecture and design at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. It is therefore not surprising that architecture is the central theme in his work. His artworks are, however, not centred around architecture as such, as in buildings and designs, but rather around architectural ideas, questions raised through architecture which can only be answered if the viewers themselves reflect on architecture. For Bogner, the built environment including the landscape is the frame of reference from which he draws, abstracts and recomposes the ideas for his works of art - drawings, paintings and objects. In this process, he creates new worlds that are coherent in themselves as works of art, but nevertheless refer to an architectural reality that is familiar to us.

Or at least they seem familiar to us, because through the artistic act of creative adoption of architecture and the simultaneous alienation from it, arises that trembling vibration between the self-assuring recognition of forms and the irritating, staggering realization that they are not what they appear to be.

A short excursion into the history of arts to shine light on crossover artists moving between genres may be revealing. Kasimir Malevich‘s Architektone, compositions of variously sized white cubes created in the 1920s, tempt us to see architectural projects in them, which they are not. Only a second look reveals that the cubes are in some way related to each other, albeit in an abstract manner that is not in accordance with buildable and functional architecture. The »models« of Constant‘s great project »New Babylon« from 1967 are irritating because of their fragile constructions closely linked to architecture, sometimes with »real« elements, which address the »space« between the elements - rods and acrylic glass panes.

Furthermore, in the late 1980s Daniel Libeskind explored such cross-genre themes in his room-filling installation »House without walls«, which in this case addresses tendencies in deconstructivist architecture beyond the demarcation lines between the arts.

Bogner‘s work follows thus a high-ranking line of tradition. He is however not committed to such precursors, instead he develops his works drawing from his inherent understanding of architecture and 11

space. He is particularly interested in space, spatial themes and the »presence of space as an object«. In other words, in what happens between the forms and elements, how they relate to each other, how they get in touch or reject each other, how they merge and complement or repel each other and how they activate the »space« between them. But he also focuses on the built environment, which is the »reservoir of themes« for his drawings and paintings as well as for his objects. This is where he finds the spatial themes that subsequently point to his artwork. It is an art that discusses architecture in a fundamental way.

But what is architecture? This question is not as old as architecture itself, but it is a fairly modern question that emerged with the idea of aesthetic empathy at the end of the 19th century.

The effect of a building on the viewer, the perception of space, the space-time-continuum in architecture have been a theme ever since.

It culminated in the 1920s with the quest for the position of architecture versus the pictorial arts. The question of the »definition of the essence of architecture« experienced an intellectual peak at that time, triggered by the »modern movement« and at the same time reflecting on modernism, which still shapes our understanding of architecture today. In 1925 the art historian Dagobert Frey defined: «While architecture is lifted out of practical reality in aesthetic contemplation, the spatio-temporal connection with the contemplating subject, however, remains, it must itself be lifted out of its reality; in other words, we feel, as a distinctive phrase has it, as though »transported into another world«. We may [...] say that in architecture we are «actors”, while in the visual arts we remain »spectators”.”

Even if Dagobert Frey‘s »reality character« of architecture is affirmed, his idea of the visual arts, which we merely receive without being directly affected, falls short. Frey‘s model of reception fails in particular in the face of such works of art that cross borders and genres as those of Bogner. We do not remain mere »spectators« of Karl Heinz Bogner‘s objects and drawings, but we become «actors«. As actors we discover site plans, floor plans, sections, and elevations in his drawings, in the collages and the photographs of »real« architecture. We gauge them and try to read and order them »correctly« according to our acquired understanding - and we will fail!

What does Bogner‘s art do to the viewers? It unsettles them because it is decidedly ambiguous. At times one sees an informal and yet well-balanced composition of graphic strokes, then colour fields that encounter each other in suspense, and at other times 12

spacious sculptures. It all reminds us of something, evokes associations, which are provoked by the artist on the one hand, and set in motion our memory of forms and our knowledge of experience on the other. This causes us to constantly scrutinise our view and to examine whether what we see is what the artist had intended, if he had intended it at all. And if he had meant it that way, is it right that one should understand it in the same way, or would it not be necessary to counter-react now and start the whole process all over again? The high quality of Karl Heinz Bogner‘s work lies in this inescapable circulus vitiosus. The drawings, pictures and objects provoke - not to contradict, but to think further, perhaps just to enjoy the play of forms, lines, and surfaces. So, it must continue in our minds. To quote Lessing: «The more we see, the more we must be able to add in our imagination. The more we add in our imagination, the more we must believe that we see.” The »imagination in its free play to the understanding« Lessing wants to see evoked when viewing art is also triggered by Bogner‘s artworks.

Now, the generic viewer does not exist. Goethe already believed »One sees only what one knows«. Our perception of the world of art is a trained one, based on previous knowledge and social codes. And thus, we react accordingly: Anyone who has engaged themselves in abstract, concrete art will relate Bogner‘s paintings to this tradition.

Architects will see something totally different; they will see architectural forms, constructions, spaces, and sequences of rooms.

From our visual memory we extract the images that most closely correlate to it. And we immediately feel safe when we compare, classify, and categorise and thus arrive at a final judgement on quality. When this is completed and we can no longer question it, then either the work of art has not fulfilled its purpose or we have internalised that status of saturation that art seeks to break up and must break up in order to be art.

However, irritation and uncertainty are not what Bogner‘s art is aiming at, quite the opposite, and that is enlightenment! To raise understanding of architecture, of what architecture can be and why architects practice architecture, shape the built environment and take responsibility for it. But how can this be done, given the ambiguity of Karl-Heinz Bogner‘s works? When doubts arise about the coherence of one‘s own perception, when the model does not prove to be a model for something that can be realised, when a drawing offers no opportunity to visualise architecture, when the desire for unambiguous legibility, for clear comprehension and familiar forms is constantly disintegrating into abstract fragments?

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The way out of this dilemma is inherent in the works of art themselves, which integrate us in their entirety: We are encouraged to adopt a productive perception. The objects - the »spatial archive« which have been arranged to form an urban ensemble, displayed on a tabletop, can each be viewed individually in their respective space appropriation. Concurrently, the installation also allows us to associate urban space with its manifold dimensions. In both cases there is much to discover, the searching and exploring eye of the viewer zooms into the objects, searches for spatial relationships, asks for references to reality, then detaches itself from the detail and takes a distanced position, overlooks the whole ensemble, only to start again and again from the beginning whilst circling around the installation. One could call it process aesthetics, in which not only the individual object or group of objects is the subject of aesthetic experience, but this experience only comes about in the context of spatio-temporal movement. It is no different with the paintings, drawings, notations, and collages. Here, every line, every surface, every form is just as important as the overall composition, which triggers associations with site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, and information on topography. Again, we are constantly zooming in and out, a process we cannot escape.

For the past 25 years, Karl-Heinz Bogner has been exhibiting his art in solo and group shows in Germany and abroad, mostly in art galleries where the display area clearly defines his works to be art. At the turn of the year 2005/2006 he exhibited for the first time in an architecture gallery, the Aedes East Extension Pavilion in the Hackesche Höfe in Berlin. There, and also here in the architekturgalerie am weißenhof, his art has been and continues to be placed in the context in which it originated. The trained architect exhibits in an architecture gallery, which seems quite reasonable and the right thing to do. Presumably, the expectations of the public visiting an exhibition in an architecture gallery are different from those visiting an art gallery. Architecture galleries usually exhibit architecture and tend to attract architects. In Berlin as well as here in Stuttgart, the location of the galleries also plays a role: Visitors to the Hackesche Höfe are also attracted by the architecture of the courtyards, so it makes sense to continue to study architecture there. The relationship between place and gallery in Stuttgart is even more direct. Whoever goes to the Weißenhof wants to see architecture! But it is precisely in such places that Bogner‘s cross-border activities unfold in a special way. The repertoire of forms in his works stems from modernism, constructivism, palimpsest-like layering and overlapping of modern urban planning. On the way through the Weissenhofsiedlung to the 14

Behrens Building, where the architekturgalerie has its exhibition spaces, visitors are prepared in passing for the works of Bogner.

They are introduced to the formal world of modernism, have experienced the open urban development plan, perceived cubes with their manifold spatial relationships and - perhaps also reflected on the social connotations of the housing estate. The subsequent confrontation with Bogner‘s works in the gallery will evoke particular associations and raise new questions regarding the works and also the buildings of the Weißenhofsiedlung. It not only unites what belongs together, but it also creates a conceptual space that spans the housing estate and the exhibition. Architecture as »artistically designed reality« (Dagobert Frey) in the housing estate and as adopted architecture in the exhibition constitute a new entity.

Klaus Jan Philipp Historian of architecture, head of the Institute for Architectural History at the University of Stuttgart and director of the architekturgalerie am weißenhof e.V.

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architekturgalerie am weißenhof e.V. Vorstand / Board Prof. Dr. Klaus Jan Philipp Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Schwarz Ausstellungsausschuss /Exhibition Committee Kyra Bullert Andreas Hardegger Christian Holl Elke Knöss-Grillitsch Antje Krauter Dennis Müller Petra Stojanik Stefan Werrer Geschäftsstelle und Assistenz des Vorstands Offices and Board Assistance Birgit Koch Katalog /Catalogue Redaktion /Editing Christian Holl http://www.frei04-publizistik.de/ Text Klaus Jan-Philipp https://www.ifag.uni-stuttgart.de/ Gestaltung / Graphic Design Dirk Wagner und Finken & Bumiller, Stuttgart Druck und Bindung /Printing and Binding Spurbuchverlag, Baunach Übersetzung / Translation Claudia Schaffert https://konferenzdolmetscherin-claudiaschaffert.de/ Bildnachweis /Credits Frank Kleinbach, Stuttgart: S. 18–29; S. 34–35, S. 38–55; S. 59–60 Stefan Blühdorn, Fellbach: S. 30–33; S. 36–37; S.56–57

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architekturgalerie am weißenhof, Stuttgart Die architekturgalerie am weißenhof hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, die Entwicklung der zeitgenössischen Architektur und Stadtplanung zwischen Technik, Bildender Kunst und Gesellschaft in Ausstellungen, Vorträgen und Symposien vorzustellen.

Sie wendet sich dabei sowohl an das Fachpublikum als auch an die interessierte Öffentlichkeit.

Ihr Bemühen gilt einem ausgewogenen Programm zwischen aktuellen Tendenzen der Baukultur und Themen der neueren Architekturgeschichte, wobei sie den intensiven Diskurs sucht und sich jedes Mal erneut dem Anspruch ästhetischer Präsentation und kritischer Reflexion stellt.

Die architekturgalerie am weißenhof wurde 1982 von Stuttgarter Architekten und dem BDA BadenWürttemberg gegründet. Sie ist damit eine der ältesten Architekturgalerien Europas.

Als Teil eines ehemaligen Musterhauses, das 1927 durch den Berliner Architekten Peter Behrens errichtet worden war, gehören die Räume der Galerie heute zu den wenigen Orten der international berühmten Werkbundsiedlung „Die Wohnung“, die öffentlich zugänglich sind.

The architekturgalerie am weißenhof is committed to present the development of contemporary architecture and urban planning by touching on technology, fine arts, and society. For this purpose, the gallery organises exhibitions, lectures, and symposia. It addresses an expert audience, as well as the interested public. It is in the gallery’s interest to present a balanced programme between current trends of building culture and topics concerning the modern history of architecture. It strives for an intensive discourse, and every time faces the challenge of aesthetic presentation and critical contemplation.

The architekturgalerie am weißenhof was founded in 1982 by architects based in Stuttgart and the BDA Baden-Wuerttemberg. It is thus one of the oldest architecture galleries in Europe.

Being part of a former model home, built in 1927 by the Berlin based architect Peter Behrens, the rooms of the gallery belong to the few locations from the internationally renowned experimental housing estate, called “Die Wohnung” that are open to the public.

Der Stuttgarter Künstler Karl-Heinz Bogner verarbeitet in seinen Arbeiten Eindrücke von gebauten Räumen, Orten und Landschaften und entwickelt sie weiter zu eigenständigen und komplexen Reflexionen über Raum und Imagination. Fragmente und Systeme, Struktur und Topographie, Metapher und Konkretion verbinden sich in Zeichnungen und Objekten auf vielschichtige Weise zu neuen Welten. Im Ineinander-Verweben von bildnerischer Erfindung und scheinbar vertrauten Zeichensystemen changieren seine Arbeiten zwischen Verweisen auf eine andere Realität und der im Werk selbst geschaffenen. So öffnen sie sich der Neuentdeckung der Umwelt und des Raumes und fordern den Betrachter zur eigenständigen Interpretation und Deutung.

In his works, the Stuttgart artist Karl-Heinz Bogner processes impressions of built spaces, places and landscapes and develops them further into independent and complex reflections on space and imagination. Fragments and systems, structure and topography, metaphor, and reification merge in drawings and objects.

With this eclectic approach he creates new worlds. In the interweaving of pictorial invention and seemingly familiar sign systems, his works oscillate between references to another reality and the one created in the work itself. They disclose themselves to the new discovery of the environment and of the space and challenge the viewer to a substantive rendition and interpretation.

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