28/09/16
Michael Buthe
Haus der Kunst, Munich
8 July – 20 November 2016
The name Michael Buthe (1944-94) is
not that well known outside Germany – or even within – for the expressive
artist, who developed his own style from the early influences of European art
informel and American minimalism, collecting and collating ideas and artefacts
from Christian, Arabic and oriental cultures, creating canvases, sculptures,
installations and diaries, died at the age of 50 from a liver disease that had
begun with jaundice in his youth. Similarly gay and Roman Catholic, Buthe has
been compared to the American painter Paul Thek (1933-88). This five-gallery retrospective
at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, presents a chronological overview of his oeuvre,
centring on two large-scale installations, recreated from the little
documentation that exists. It is enchanting and immersive, meditative and
energetic – and certainly succeeds in earning Buthe his place in the canon.
Read the review here