Edited by Beat Keusch, Jan Voss. Text by Ina Conzen, Ruth Diehl.
Art polymath extraordinaire, Dieter Roth (1930-1998) maintained throughout his career an output so prodigious and various that art historians and fans are still struggling to keep up. Bringing innovations to media such as installation, sculpture, artist's books, jewelry and writing, Roth also traveled and collaborated extensively, becoming one of the postwar art scene's most visible personalities. Roth kept a close circle of artist friends with whom he collaborated, and to whom he made regular gifts of works that he named “Souvenirs.” These friends included Richard Hamilton, Dorothy Iannone, Hansjörg Mayer, Martin Suter and Jan Voss, and the gifts included works of mail art, which Roth would gleefully subject to the vicissitudes of the postal system (“Has it arrived yet?” Voss recalls Roth asking him, of one such gift; “Has it already been nicely destroyed?” ). Dieter Roth: Souvenirs is the first presentation of these works.
Featured image is reproduced from Dieter Roth: Souvenirs.
"Souvenirs are manifestations of recollection. Recollection concerns time and history, the past, memory. It is looking back as a need to record or capture something that was once there. But how often our recollections deceive us, casting another light on what we experienced, which in turn can also change in the course of time. When Roth takes an existing material and--through artistic action--transforms its being, and possibly intends further changes, is he not dealing in memories? Whether creating a material image or overpainting, Rot's calculation includes both an appeal to the memory of the original meaning and the traces of usage. But, unlike Duchamp and the pop artists that followed him, he never regards the objet-trouvé or readymade as finished; he always returns to it, re-forming here, adding something there, varying this or that."
FORMAT: Hbk, 10.5 x 14 in. / 152 pgs / 127 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $85.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $100 ISBN: 9783775728188 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 8/31/2011 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited by Beat Keusch, Jan Voss. Text by Ina Conzen, Ruth Diehl.
Art polymath extraordinaire, Dieter Roth (1930-1998) maintained throughout his career an output so prodigious and various that art historians and fans are still struggling to keep up. Bringing innovations to media such as installation, sculpture, artist's books, jewelry and writing, Roth also traveled and collaborated extensively, becoming one of the postwar art scene's most visible personalities. Roth kept a close circle of artist friends with whom he collaborated, and to whom he made regular gifts of works that he named “Souvenirs.” These friends included Richard Hamilton, Dorothy Iannone, Hansjörg Mayer, Martin Suter and Jan Voss, and the gifts included works of mail art, which Roth would gleefully subject to the vicissitudes of the postal system (“Has it arrived yet?” Voss recalls Roth asking him, of one such gift; “Has it already been nicely destroyed?” ). Dieter Roth: Souvenirs is the first presentation of these works.
