The Project
TREE CONNECTIONS 11.05. extended until 18.07.2021
CALAME, GILLE, ARP, OPPENHEIM, TINGUELY, BEUYS, CHRISTO, ROLLINS AND K.O.S., UECKER, KOUNNELIS, BALKENHOL, CRAGG, KINTERA, KAWAMATA, NASH, SAILSTORFER, KENTRIDGE, AND MANY MORE
The exhibition will present a number of art works by Joseph Beuys amongst others. His art intervention Save the Forest, which took place in Düsseldorf in 1972, where Beuys, together with 50 of his art students, fought against the felling of a tree, and Beuys’ 7000 Oak Art Project, as part of the documenta 7 in Kassel in 1982, both play a pivotal role in Klaus Littmann’s work – a Beuys student himself.
While Beuys’ trees are now a permanent feature of Kassel’s cityscape, Klaus Littmann’s projects are always ephemeral and clearly limited in time, but with an all the more haunting and resonating presence.
REMINISCENCE AND APPEAL
The most recent example is the temporary art intervention For Forest – the Unending Attraction of Nature which is based on a visual idea by Max Peintner, dating back to the early 1970s. It was implemented in 2019 at the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt and subsequently gained world-wide recognition. With the installation of a European mixed forest inside a football stadium, observable from the stands at different times of the day, Littmann challenged our perception and sharpened our perspective on the future in relation to mankind and nature.
A MAJOR TOPIC IN ART
Klaus Littmann’s show in the KBH.G exhibition space reflects on the multifaceted artistic engagement with nature. There will be around 75 artworks by 45 artists on display.They include landscape painter Christian Friedrich Gille, whose paintings illustrate how the tree transformed from a mere backdrop subject to a main protagonist in the course of the 19th century. The main focus of the exhibition, however, is given to artworks of the 20th century, where the tree is present in a great variety of artistic representations. Many of the exhibits have never been on public display, others have been especially created for Tree Connections.The exhibition in Basel aims to continue the staging of nature which started in Klagenfurt. It also demonstrates that unique art does not require long transports – most of the works on loan come from private collections in the region.
As part of the exhibition, the installation Arena for a Tree will be presented on the Münsterplatz in Basel. The arena will be open daily to the public from April 28 to May 24 from 11 to 8 pm.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive catalog published by Hatje Cantz with essays by John McDonald, Florian Illies and Isabel Zürcher as well as a diverse public program .
Exhibition
TREE CONNECTIONS
11.05. – extended till 18.07.2021
At the exhibition space of Kulturstiftung Basel H.Geiger | KBH.G
Spitalstrasse 18, Basel
Open daily from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., except Tuesdays
Free entry
ARENA FOR A TREE
27.04. – extended till 06.06.2021
Open daily from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Münsterplatz, Basel
Free entry
We thank you warmly for your cooperation:
Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure | enea landscape architecture | Häring AG
Website:
Press Review:
- 2021-05-11, Media Relations
Media ARENA FOR A TREE & TREE CONNECTIONS
News:
- 2021-07-15, Last guided tours of the exhibition TREE CONNECTIONS with Klaus Littmann
- 2021-07-13, TREE CONNECTIONS only until Sunday, July 18, 6 p.m.
- 2021-07-03, Public guided tours of the exhibition TREE CONNECTIONS with Klaus Littmann in July
- 2021-06-29, Last Chance: Tuesday, 29.6.21, 7 p.m., at Stadtkino Basel
- 2021-06-27, Exhibition TREE CONNECTIONS extended until 18 July 2021
- 2021-06-26, ARTIST TALK with Sonja Feldmeier
- 2021-06-26, Private and public guided tours
- 2021-06-19, Klaus Littmann on the link to ARENA FOR A TREE and TREE CONNECTIONS
- 2021-06-12, ARTIST TALK Isabel Zürcher & Michael Sailstorfer
- 2021-06-09, I think I'm standing in the forest: A Basel exhibition explores the role trees play in art
- 2021-06-03, Guided tours with Klaus Littmann: Thursday, 3.6. and Saturday, 5.6.21
- 2021-05-29, Happy Weekend
- 2021-05-29, Guided tour with Klaus Littmann: Saturday, May 29, 2 pm
- 2021-05-27, Guided tour with Klaus Littmann: Thursday, May 27, 5 pm
- 2021-05-21, ARTIST TALK Raphael Suter and Klaus Littmann
- 2021-05-19, Public Program | TREE CONNECTIONS & ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-12, Exhibition TREE CONNECTIONS
- 2020-05-23, translation not available – Katalog TREE CONNECTIONS
Publications
TREE CONNECTIONS
German, English
Time of publication: 2021
288 pp., 210 ills., Quarterbound Hardcover
€ 48,00
ISBN: 978-3-7757-5035-6
