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From 25 October 2019, the Kunstbibliothek im Kulturforum will be showing the exhibition “Typoems und Künstlerbücher” with works by printer and publisher Hansjörg Mayer.
The printer, teacher and publisher Hansjörg Mayer, who lives in London, became one of the most important protagonists of concrete poetry and the art of the 1960s with his experiments in printing techniques and his edition hansjörg mayer. In collaboration with the artist, the Art Library shows the diversity and artistic stubbornness of the publishing house, from his first typographic works, which he called typoems, to the international influence of Concrete Poetry from Stuttgart to São Paolo, to the experimental artist’s books by Dieter Roth.
Dieter Roth, Bücher und Grafik Gesammelte Werke 20, 1970, edition hansjörg mayer,
Offsetdruck, © edition hansjörg mayer; Dieter Roth Foundation, Hamburg
As early as the mid-1960s, Hansjörg Mayer (*1943, Stuttgart) attracted the attention of the art and literature world. As a young man, Mayer had already come into contact with the Stuttgart circle around the philosopher Max Bense, who introduced him to the latest international trends in art, literature and music. Mayer’s fascination with the printing process, which he experienced every day in his family’s print shop, gave rise to the first “printing process pictures”. Since 1963, Mayer, as Dieter Roth’s publisher, had been prepared to translate any challenging artistic idea into letterpress printing. In 1966 Mayer moved to England, where he taught at the Bath Academy of Art and the Watford School of Art. In 1968, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag dedicated its first major retrospective to the 25-year-old. Since then he has published over 300 books, posters, films, records and videos in the edition hansjörg mayer.
Selten gehörte Musik Streichquartett 558171 (Romenthal Quartett), Tonträger, 1976, edition
hansjörg mayer, Schallplatten in Kassette, © edition hansjörg mayer; Dieter Roth Foundation,
Hamburg
The exhibition presents the diversity of his publishing house in a joint selection with Hansjörg Mayer. It begins with The First Alphabet, the beginning of his printing experiments with the 26 letters. Also on view are a selection of films he made together with Georg Bense and Rainer Wössner in 1962, the groundbreaking portfolios of “Concrete Poetry International”, artist portfolios by Sigfrid Cremer or Herman de Vries, as well as the sprawling book series Collected Works by Dieter Roth and his records with rarely heard music. The unheard-of spectrum of his publishing activities, from concrete poetry to ethnology, can also be found in the exhibition on book tables for leafing through and reading.
Opening with Panel Discussion Thursday, 24 October 2019, 7 pm
Exhibition period: Saturday, 25 October 2019 – Sunday, 12 January 2020
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