Eberhard Bosslet

Eberhard Bosslet (born 1953) is a German contemporary artist who has been producing site-specific art and architectural-related works, such as sculpture, installation and painting, both indoors and outdoors, since 1979. Born in Speyer, Germany, and living in Dresden, he co-founded the artist group, "Material & Effect" ("Material & Wirkung") in Berlin in 1981, and since 1980, has been the co-director of the artistspace "MOPEDS" in Berlin/Kreuzberg that is involved in curating and managing non-conventional artshows.

Dossier of works

* 1979: Self-referential works in words and writing-form of painting, photography, wall-drawings, and plates; site-specific interior work with wall-drawings and plates.

* Since 1979:
** Sculptures and installations with electric light and electric steering;
** Performance "Per-/Re-ception" ("Wahr-nehmen") in a hall at an industrial yard in Speyer, Germany, using electric installation, electric light, zinc sulfide (phosphorus); photographic details of existing situations in the hall, projected in color or black-and-white negative slides, on the situations themselves.
* 1980: Wood panels, coated with colored varnish, and variably arranged in layers.

* Since 1980: Broken glass-panes, site-specific and installation works, as well as paintings with partially colored-coated broken glass, acrylic panes and flexible PVC sheets indoors and outdoors. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_220917.html view1] . [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_220918.html view2]

* 1981: Works with roadway markings and roadblocks.

* 1982: "Mobilien & Immobilien" (Movables & Immovables), a series of photographs, produced with a painted Vespa motor scooter, and colored house facades at Tenerife/Canary Islandes. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_209150.html view]

* 1982 - 84: "Mobiliar" (Furniture), and "Stand der Dinge" (Status Quo); photographs of interior designs in which the backgrounds and objects were painted. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_784303.html view]

* Since 1982:
** Series of color photographs at the Canary Islands, Spain;
** Urban exploration: so-called "scrap metal and sun";
** Abandoned cars in southern landscape [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_188955.html view] ;
** "Interventions" in public space, side specific art, guerilla art.

* 1983: Works of rubble at a waste dump.

* 1983 - 90:
** Works with ruins, so-called "Re/formations and side effects"; here, stabilization and destabilization of perception of conditions of industrial and residential buildings by white painted lines or black painted color fields;
** Side-specific outdoor intervention. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_136676.html view]

* 1985 - 88: Painting — each form complex has its own color and paint material; the "facade ground" is a significantly visible component, and is of equal value as the variables, "form, color, and paint material". [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_220919.html view]

* Since 1985: "Supporting Measures" — indoor, space-related works with items of the building trade; here, new arrangement of space, apparent stabilization and destabilization of the building material and the space itself, by building in structural bodies. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_218273.html view]

* 1986: "Basements" — low, floorplan-like sculptures, with concrete blocks and copper pipe, or bricks and copper pipe.

* 1987 - 1989|89: Sculptures of "Filing Cabinets" with wood, steel strips; tension and pressure keeps the new order of components stable. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_210108.html view]

* Since 1989:
* "Tapestry" of industrial textiles, with no "ground" due to the color-form-material complexes, sewed up next to each other;
* Wall fixtures, varying in type and shape, have a supporting and visual function. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_218250.html view]

* Since 1989:
** Project drawings for planned sculptures and installations, computer-generated using a pixel-oriented program, and printed with a 24-needle printer;
** "Pneumatic Pieces" — Free-standing works, with hydraulically- or pneumatically-driven lifting devices for inside; "contraptions" made of items from industrial and domestic parts. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_210110.html view]
** "Pneumatic Installations" — Installed works, with hydraulically- or pneumatically-driven lifting devices for both inside and outside; "contraptions" made of items from industrial and domestic parts. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_218274.html view]

* 1993 - 98:
** "Bilaterale Beziehungen" (Bilateral Relations);
* "Screens": Lattice-structures of rubber- or polyurethane-mounted on both sides of a wall; anchor bars inserted into holes in the walls, helical pressure springs, and anchor nuts have a visual function and hold the parts together.
** "Gloriolen": cast reliefs, mounted on both sides of a wall, using the same principle as in "Screens", the cast reliefs are held together through anchor bars, helical pressure springs, and anchor nuts that also have a visual function. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_209153.html view]

* Since 1995: "Barrieren" (Barriers) — foundation-like, knee-high constructions in concrete and steel reinforcement, made on site, designed for the dimensions of the space, and blocking the evident path through the room. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_215959.html view]

* 1998 - 2001: "Spacelab" — made out of living room lights from the 50-70ths, hanging from the ceiling. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_232338.html view]

* Since 2000:
** "Analogic Discs"
** Paintings: Trampolines are the support, which is a constructive and visual part of the appearance. The support, the form, the material and the color are different, and they are piled on each other. [http://www.bosslet.com/pageID_177532.html view]

Exhibitions

One man shows

* Since 1981: "Interventions" in public space, Antwerp, Barcelona, Canary Islands, Duisburg (Belgium), Spain, Germany.

* 1985: "Interventiones", Fundación Miró, Barcelona; Espacio P, Madrid, Spain (catalog).

* 1986: Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg, Germany (catalog).

* 1987: Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany (catalog).

* 1988:
** February: John Gibson Gallery, New York, United States.
** Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada.
** John Gibson Gallery, September, New York, USA.

* 1989:
** Barbara Farber Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
** Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Germany (catalog).
** Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, California, USA.

* 1990:
** Galerie Le Gall-Peyroulet, Paris, France.
** John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.

* 1991:
** Kunstraum Wuppertal, Germany.
** Galerie Gilles Peyroulet, Paris, France.

* 1993:
** Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands (catalog).
** Sala 1 , Rome, Italy (catalog).
** Galerie Blancpain-Stepczynski, Genever, Switzerland.

* 1995:
** Interventionen II, VERBAU, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany (catalog).
** PLANEN, Kunstverein Heilbronn, Germany (catalog).

* 1998: Fundamental wie Bilateral, Kunsthalle Mannheim, CD-Rom for PC, Germany.

* 2000:
** Satellites, Galerie Bochynek, Düsseldorf, Germany.
** Interventions, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.

* 2002: "Analog Discs", Galerie Bochynek, Düsseldorf, Germany.

* 2004: Okkupanten, Künstlerhaus Bregenz, Palais Thurn und Taxis, Austria.

Group shows

* 1987:
** Bremer Kunstpreis 1987, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, (catalog).
** documenta, documenta 8, Kassel, Germany, (catalog).

* 1988:
** European sculpture made in USA, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA (catalog).
** BRD abstract tendenciens in new German art, Karl Bornstein Gallery, St. Monica, California, USA.
** Spaces 88, Museo d'arte contemporanea Prato, Italy (catalog).
** New Poverty, MeyersBloom Gallery, Santa Monica, California, USA.

* 1989: Intuition, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.

* 1990:
** Three German Sculptors, Bosslet, Robbe, Staehle, Anthony Ralph Gallery, New York, USA.
** Trans-Europe-Express, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.
** Non-Sculpture, Barbara Farber Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
** The Collection 1988-90, Museo d'arte contemporanea Prato, Italy (catalog).

* 1991: Eurocard, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.

* 1992:
** 30th anniversary of Amnesty International, Hótel des arts, Paris, France (catalog).
** "Kunst werkt" (Art works), Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Foundación Miró, Barcelona, Palacio de la Lonja, Zaragoza, Spain (catalog).
** The Eighties, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.
** Humpty Dumty's Kaleidoscope: A new generation of German artists, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Australia (catalog).
** Avantgarde Reflex Ost-West, Potsdam, Germany.

* 1993:
** Eberhard Bosslet & Lawrence Gipe, Kunstverein der Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (catalog).
** John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA.
** La Laiterie, Amnesty International, Strasbourg, France.

* 1994:
** New Furniture for the Villa, Villa Merkel Esslingen, Germany.
** Villa Massimo 88-92, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany.

* 1997: The Pleasure of Reading, John Gibson Gallery, New York.

* 1998: Material & Wirkung, Bosslet, Sattel, Klotz, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany.

* 2003: Unexpected selections from the Margulies collection, The Art Museum, Miami, Florida, USA (catalog).

* 2004: WorldWatchers, Kunsthaus Dresden (catalog).

Bibliography

* Camps Miro, Teresa und Picazo Gloria: Eberhard Bosslet Intervenciones/Interventionen, Catalog of the Fundación Miró, Barcelona 1985, Spain.

* Stecker, Raimund: documenta 8, Catalog, Germany

* Cameron, Dan: European Sculpture made in U.S.A., Catalog of the John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA 1988.

* Day, Peter: Spaces 88, Catalog of the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Prato, Italy 1988.

* Rubinstein, Meyer Raphael: Eberhard Bosslet at John Gibson Gallery, in: Flash Art, Summer 1988, p. 136.

* Deckter, Joshua: Eberhard Bosslet at John Gibson Gallery, in: Arts Magazine, Dec. 1988, p. 106.

* Weinstein, Matthew A.: Eberhard Bosslet, John Gibson Gallery, in: Artforum, Dec.1988, p. 121/122, USA.

* Ottmann, Klaus: European Sculpture made in U.S.A., John Gibson Gallery, in: Flash Art, Summer 1988.

* Nieuwenhuyzen, Martijn van: Eberhard Bosslet, Barbara Farber Gallery Amsterdam, in: Flash Art, May/June 1989 p. 125.

* Schmitz,Britta: Eberhard Bosslet, catalog of the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, 1989, Germany.

* Kandel, Susan: L.A. in Review, Eberhard Bosslet, Karl Bornstein Gallery, in: Arts Magazine, March 1990, p. 126, USA.

* Pagel, David: Eberhard Bosslet, Karl Bornstein Gallery, in: Artscribe, March/April 1990, p. 82.

* Mahoney, Robert: Eberhard Bosslet, John Gibson Gallery, in Arts Magazine, January 1991.

* Murphy, Bernice: in Humpty Dumpty's Kaleidoscope, A New Generation of German Artists, catalog of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 1992, p. 17,34,55,58/59. Australia

* Bochynek, Martin: Eberhard Bosslet, Catalog of the Kunsthal Rotterdam 1993, Netherlands.

* Bosslet-Archive (Electronic Resource), works, essays, reviews 1979-2003; Editor Kunsthalle Mannheim. 3rd Edition, Gallery Version. Dresden, 2003

External links

* [http://www.bosslet.com Official Web Site] for Eberhard Bosslet
* [http://www.artnews.org/eberhardbosslet artnews.org]
* [http://www.artnet.de/magazine/reviews/schmid/schmid12-20-04.asp artnet.de]