Individual mythology
Restless nomad, carefree adventurer, charismatic one-man show – Michael Buthe (Sonthofen 1944–1994 Bonn) was one of the late 20th century’s dazzling artistic personalities. His oeuvre is anarchic and protean: it draws from the different cultures of the world, juggles kitsch and cliché, entangles calculation and carnality, celebrates poetry and spirituality in a mechanised present.
Buthe’s art of “individual mythology” attracted wide interest as early as 1972 at documenta 5 and his maverick, energetic work still fascinates today. The Ernst Barlach Haus now honours Michael Buthe with an exhibition bringing together around 80 drawings, collages and objects. It focuses on the 1960s and 70s and includes numerous works that are being shown for the first time and are documented in the accompanying catalogue.
The richly illustrated catalogue is published by Kerber Verlag (136 pages with 111 colour plates, German/English, hardcover, museum edition € 27). After Hamburg the exhibition will travel to the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck.