Published by Hatje Cantz. Foreword by Okwui Enwezor, Fanni Fetzer, Philippe Van Cauteren. Text by Martin Germann, et al.
Michael Buthe (1944–94) was fascinated by non-European cultures, countering the cool Minimalism of his era with pronounced sensuousness, raising spiritual as well as social questions. The retrospective brings together assemblages, brightly colored works on paper, and intensely worked canvases, collages and paintings in gold.
A glittering personality on the 1970s art scene, Michael Buthe (1944–1994) plundered the world's cultures to make his brightly chaotic drawings, paintings, assemblages and installations (Buthe was among the earliest artists to present room-size installations as works of art). Achieving a balance between delicacy and kitsch, Buthe's work resembles a bizarre amalgam of Jack Smith and Richard Tuttle. This first substantial monograph is a revelation and a delight.
Michael Buthe: The Angel & His Shadow