Winged and tentacled beings
As a Dadaist and surrealist, an artist of the word and image, Hans Arp (Straßburg 1886–1966 Basel) is one of the pioneers of modernism; his art of biomorphic, organically rounded forms is as concise as it is diverse.
Arp’s feeling for humour and lightness, for the open and mutable, characterises both his work and way of working: he playfully cuts or tears shapes from paper to create a wealth of material for collages, reliefs and sculptures.
In the 1950s Arp applies himself recurrently to the human figure: hundreds of paper cuttings give rise to a fascinating parade of globular men and amphora women, tentacled beings and winged creatures. The exhibition accompanies the artist through his exuberant puppet theatre, follows his genre-breaking thematic variations – and shows the late Arp as a tireless creator of living forms.
© Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Locarno / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2009; Photo: R. Pellegrini
The exhibition brings together more than 200 paper cuttings, drawings, collages, reliefs and sculptures. The accompanying catalogue is published by Steidl Verlag (German, 104 pages with numerous colour plates, hard cover, € 25).