© Image taken from: https://www.kunsthallerostock.de/en/ausstellungen/ausstellung/2024/jorgen-buch

EXHIBITION: JØRGEN BUCH – BLACK & WHITE

OPENING: 03/08, 18.00

From August, the Kunsthalle Rostock will present an exhibition with works by Danish artists from the collection. These were largely acquired as part of the biennials held in the Baltic Sea countries, Norway and Iceland between 1965 and 1989. The work of the Danish painter and graphic artist Jørgen Buch (1943–2021) receives special attention and is shown in a solo exhibition on the ground floor of the Schaudepot.

Jørgen Buch has been represented at several biennials in Rostock and, as a young artist, had a solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle. A significant part of his oeuvre is in the collection of the Kunsthalle Rostock. Throughout his life he was a critical observer of socially relevant processes. As an artist, he wanted to reflect current events artistically. Buch studied in Copenhagen in the politically turbulent 1960s and 1970s, a time in which a wide variety of artistic directions predominated. Through his participation in exhibitions in Rostock, he was finally able to study at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin-Weißensee from 1975 to 1976.

In addition to landscapes and portraits, Buch has repeatedly critically examined international news from the daily press. The result is numerous works created in a figurative, representational formal language, whose objects or represented themes have certain satirical and provocative features. His best-known works include, for example, the painting “Black & White”, in which he denounces American racism, or the series about Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990, which resulted in numerous human rights violations. Buch’s group portrait, for example, presents Pinochet in the center, followed by his followers in the background. The composition and the chosen section of the image are reminiscent of a press photo that was published in local and international newspapers in 1973. It shows the dictator wearing dark glasses posing confidently in front of the crowd for the press. Buch transfers this snapshot, slightly modified, to the football stadium that Pinochet had converted into an internment facility. Using American photorealism, he exposes the generals as football fans in a drastic and unmistakable way.

Buch’s group portrait, for example, presents Pinochet in the center, followed by his followers in the background. The composition and the chosen section of the image are reminiscent of a press photo that was published in local and international newspapers in 1973. It shows the dictator wearing dark glasses posing confidently in front of the crowd for the press. Book transfers this snapshot, slightly modified, to the football stadium that Pinochet had converted into an internment facility. Using American photorealism, he exposes the generals as football fans in a drastic and unmistakable way.

Based on Buch’s work, historical as well as current socio-political topics can be conveyed and reflected upon. His images make you think and encourage discussion.

Further information: https://www.kunsthallerostock.de/en/ausstellungen/ausstellung/2024/jorgen-buch