Barry Guy (Double Bass)
Maya Homburger (Violin)
Baroque and New Music
Saturday, 2 August, 11am
St. Marien Wallfahrtskirche, Weidingen
The Stiftung zur Förderung zeitgenössischer Kunst in Weidingen is pleased to present an exhibition by Friedrich Kunath, which will be on view from Saturday, 2 August 2025 (please see opening hours above).
Kunath’s oeuvre spans painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and video. Shaped by the artist’s personal history, as well as by music, German Romanticism and American pop culture, his works are equally permeated by tradition and modernity. Moving freely between themes of tragedy, comedy and romance, his practice occupies a unique space between irony and sincerity.
The large-format triptych I’m O.K. By Myself, 2025, stretches across the entire wall of the exhibition space and presents the viewer with a horizontal view of the ocean. As is often the case in Kunath’s paintings, the reference to German Romanticism is apparent. Here, Kunath evokes Caspar David Friedrich’s Monk by the Sea, 1808–1810, which depicts a monk in melancholic solitude, gazing into the seemingly infinite expanse of the dark horizon. With its radical simplicity and oppressive emptiness of space, the work anticipates modern painting in compositional terms. Through identification with the solitary figure, the scene – without boundaries and support, in a suspended state between night and day, doubt and hope – becomes a reflection of our own inner landscape. In Kunath’s painting, a single buoy in the vast expanse of the horizon takes on the role of the monk as a solitary symbol of humanity. The inscription ‘I’m O.K. By Myself’ picks up on the feeling of loneliness; the setting sun ironically breaks the pathos and recalls the overly romantic mood of holiday postcards. Universal themes such as longing, melancholy, loneliness, homesickness and wanderlust, which repeatedly appear in Kunath’s work, here critically draw on the learned visual vocabulary of German Romanticism. Once immersed in the dizzying flood of symbols and references, the viewer begins to question supposedly fixed terms and meanings and is thus forced to engage with their own convictions.
Reversing the title of the large triptych, Friedrich Kunath has designed a flag for Weidingen. “I‘m Not O.K. By Myself“ reads the statement in white handwritten letters on a deep blue background. With this statement, the artist reinforces the feeling that has already dawned on the viewer of the painting and refers ironically to his work in the exhibition hall.
In addition, the work Untitled [Leben ist Tod ... und der Tod ist auch ein Leben], 2024, by André Butzer will be permanently installed in the Bibliothek Günther Förg from 2 August. Shaped from heavy brass plates, the monumental ‘N’ is recognisable as a letter or an indefinable and irrational number and may refer to infinity. However, due to its height of over one metre, it exceeds all legibility. Taking up the existential mood of his N pictures, Butzer‘s work succeeds in expressing the relationship between presence and absence, death and life.
On the occasion of the opening in the exhibition hall of the Foundation at Gartenstraße 32, a concert by Maya Homburger and Barry Guy will take place on Saturday, 2 August at 11am, in the St. Marien Wallfahrtskirche. The Swiss-British duo Maya Homburger (violin) and Barry Guy (double bass) create a musical dialogue in which various areas of musical history from the last millennium come together. From Baroque to contemporary music and free jazz, they span a bridge from ethereal hymns to the Holy Spirit to vibrant new music.
Friedrich Kunath (b. 1974, Chemnitz) lives and works in Los Angeles. Solo exhibitions of the artist have taken place in numerous international institutions, including G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig (2024); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (duo exhibition, 2024); KINDL, Berlin; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (CAC), Malaga (both 2023); Kunstsammlung Jena (2021); Philara Collection, Düsseldorf (2016); Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry - le Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine; Kunsthalle Bremerhaven; CAPRI, Düsseldorf; Nassau County Museum of Art, New York (all 2014); Modern Art Oxford (2013); Sprengel Museum, Hanover (2012); Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2011); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstsaele, Berlin (both 2010); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Kunstverein Hannover (both 2009); Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Aachen (2007); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2002); and The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2000).
Kunath’s works are held in collections including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstverein Reutlingen; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
André Butzer (born 1973, Stuttgart) lives and works in Berlin. His works have recently been shown in solo exhibitions at the following international institutions: Museo Novecento, Florence; Museo Stefano Bardini, Florence; St. Nikolaus, Innsbruck (all 2024); Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid; Kebbel Villa | Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, Schwandorf; Miettinen Collection, Berlin; Kunstverein Friedrichshafen (all 2023); Friedrichs Foundation, Weidingen (2022); Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Museum of the Light, Hokuto (both 2020); IKOB Musée d‘Art Contemporain, Eupen (2018); Växjö Konsthall (2017); Neue Galerie Gladbeck (2016); and Kunstverein Reutlingen (2015) among others.
Maya Homburger (b. 1953, Zurich) was one of the lead violins of John Eliot Gardiner’s ‘English Baroque Soloists’ for a long time. After some years in England and Ireland, she now lives in Switzerland. She specialises in performances of H.I.F. Biber’s Rosary Sonatas and J.S. Bach’s chamber music and cantatas. In duo concerts with Barry Guy, she focuses on blending early and contemporary music, extending into improvisation. The latest CD on the Maya Recordings label ‘Acanthis’ features the Homburger/Guy duo alongside percussionist Lucas Niggli.
Barry Guy (b. 1947, London) is one of the most innovative double bass players in improvised music and composition. In 1970, he founded the London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LJCO), for which he also writes the majority of the compositions. This was followed by the Barry Guy New Orchestra (BGNO) and the Blue Shroud Band. As a soloist, Barry Guy has radically expanded the technique of double bass playing. Musicians such as Evan Parker, Agustí Fernández, Jordina Milla, Paul Lytton, Marilyn Crispell, Lucas Niggli, Ramon Lopez, Mats Gustafsson, and many others, value him as a long-time collaborator. The composition of his own music also constitutes a significant part of Guy’s work: in addition to orchestral pieces for his jazz ensembles, he has written compositions for the City of London Sinfonia Orchestra and the cello ensemble of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.