Heinz Gappmayr in situ

8 April 2021
Heinz Gappmayr auf YouTube
4:38

Heinz Gappmayr(1925-2010) is the main representative of visual poetry in German-speaking countries. Since the late 1960s he made language the material of his work. Signs, words, numbers and basic geometric shapes are presented visually by him in order to examine the categorical possibilities of language. Gappmayr uses language to depict ideas and concepts that cannot be represented graphically due to their abstract nature. In his work on concrete poetry, the artist points out that concepts are ideas and can therefore encompass an infinite number of possible objects and ideas.

These considerations led to the text images, which occupy a special position in Gappmayr's oeuvre. In these works he tries to depict concepts that are not depictable, but are the basis of all empirical knowledge. The two a priori terms »time« and »space« play a central role in Heinz Gappmayr's work.

Since 1979 Gappmayr has also created spatial text installations. Compared to other contemporary artists who work with language in spatial contexts – such as Lawrence Weiner or Robert Barry – for Gappmayr, real space with all its peculiarities is not just the framework for an enlarged text. The space, with all its features, also constitutes the work of art. The text evocatively refers to the environment in order to make the reality of language and the physical world visible through the contrast.

Work

Heinz Gappmayr - Silence
Heinz Gappmayr
Silence ‧ 1985/2020
Textinstallation, hier 300 x 800 cm, Größe in der Ausführung variabel, WVZ 0602-85

Inquiry

Publications

Texte im Raum
Heinz Gappmayr
Texte im Raum

Reihe Dokumente unserer Zeit – Band 11

1989

16,50 €
Auf der Fläche – im Raum
Heinz Gappmayr
Auf der Fläche – im Raum

Reihe Dokumente unserer Zeit – Band 26

2001

19,– €
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 1
Dorothea van der Koelen
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 1
Gesamtverzeichnis der visuellen und theoretischen Texte 1961-1990

1993

76,– €
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 2
Dorothea van der Koelen
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 2
Gesamtverzeichnis der visuellen und theoretischen Texte 1991-1996

1997

72,– €
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 3
Dorothea van der Koelen
OPUS Heinz Gappmayr Band 3
Gesamtverzeichnis der visuellen und theoretischen Texte 1997-2004

2005

68,– €

Publications about Heinz Gappmayr

Dr.  Dorothea  van der Koelen

Gallery