05 Aug 2016

Jamais-vu – Jean Guillaume Ferrée at ikob - Museum of Contemporary Art

DIRK DIETRICH HENNIG: JAMAIS-VU – JEAN GUILLAUME FERRÉE

With JAMAIS-VU Hennig is presenting the almost complete body of work by unjustly forgotten artist Jean Guillaume Ferrée (1926-1974).

Ferrées artisitic work is situated in Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme and includes installations, sculptures, collages and photographs. His exhibition at ikob – Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying 65 works and thereby Ferrées largest museum show so far.

His biography, work and character are all marked by a recurring memory loss, because of which he had to undergo psychiatric treatment several times. In 1974 the artist died under mysterious circumstances.

It looks as if Ferrée had been wanting to fill his memory gaps with his works, so detailed and pictorially rich they appear mingling different kinds of possible stories. But the works which Hennig creates since 2004 in Ferrées name are more than a simple hocus-pocus. They are characterised by a subtle strategy of combining historical facts with possible narratives. Thus Hennig adopts the role of a sophisticated visual storyteller and archivist and questions all kinds of certainties in art history.

We friendly invite you to the VERNISSAGE of the exhibition on SUNDAY, 7th AUGUST at 3PM. The artist will be present, an a capella duo will round up the evening with a small concert.