Artist | Robert [Bob] Watts (1923 - 1988)

https://www.artist-info.com/artist/Robert-Watts

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    • Robert [Bob] Watts

      Chair1962

Biography

Biography

born in 1923, died in 1988

About the work (english / deutsch)

About the work (english / deutsch)

Chair
There are people who have an aura about them. If you meet them, you obtain a feeling: heightened attention, fascination, a state which you cannot explain. When dealing with things, you talk of aura if they take you by surprise and flash out of their usual ranks, so that you see them, for inexplicable reasons, in a different light, as if they were under a spell. In his work Chair, dating from 1962, the American artist Robert Watts makes use of a familiar object which is hardly noticed due to it being so commonplace: a chair.

Chairs are there for sitting on, and so we are rarely aware of them other than through the seated body. Robert Watts releases a simple, traditional, wooden chair from its original function and traces its basic form with orange-red neon tubes.

The chair shines. Beneath the surface of the seat, a transformer has been placed, the heart of the lightchair. It is from here that energy, in the form of light, is conducted around the legs, the back and the seat. The light spreads around the room und draws in the viewer causing a physical connection between the chair and the viewer in an unusual manner.

German text by Tamara Grcic / Translation by Jennifer Greitschus
(Extract - Full printed version available in the Museum)
MMK - Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main



Chair
Es gibt Menschen, die haben Ausstrahlung. Wenn man ihnen begegnet, wird man von einem Gefühl getroffen: erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit, Faszination, ein Zustand, den man nicht erklären kann. Bei Dingen spricht man von Aura, wenn diese überraschend aufblitzen aus den gewohnten Ordnungen, und man sie aus unerklärlichen Gründen mit anderen Augen sieht, als wären sie verzaubert. In seiner Arbeit Chair von 1962 verwendet der amerikanische Künstler Robert Watts einen vertrauten, durch die tägliche Gewohnheit kaum beachteten Gegenstand: einen Stuhl.

Stühle sind zum Sitzen da, und so nimmt man sie selten anders als über den sitzenden Körper wahr. Robert Watts löst einen einfachen, traditionellen Holzstuhl aus seiner ursprünglichen Funktion und zeichnet dessen Grundform mit orangeroten Neonröhren nach.

Der Stuhl leuchtet. Unter seiner Sitzfläche ist sichtbar ein Transformator angebracht, das Herz des Lichtstuhls. Von dort wird Energie in Form von Licht um die Beine, die Rückenlehne, und die Sitzfläche geleitet. Das Licht breitet sich im Raum aus, schließt den Betrachter ein, erzeugt eine physische Verbindung zwischen Stuhl und Betrachter, anders als gewohnt.

Text von Tamara Grcic
(Auszug - Der vollständige Text ist als Informationsblatt beim Museum erhältlich)
MMK - Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main

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Exhibition History 

Exhibition History

 
SUMMARY based on artist-info records. More details and Visualizing Art Networks on demand.
Venue types: Gallery / Museum / Non-Profit / Collector
Exhibitions in artist-info 95 (S 8/ G 87) Did show together with - Top 5 of 1787 artists
(no. of shows) - all shows - Top 100
Andy Warhol (33)- 943
George Brecht (32)- 114
Robert Rauschenberg (32)- 668
Nam June Paik (30)- 266
Joseph Beuys (29)- 700
Exhibitions by type
95:   33 / 38 / 24 / 0
Venues by type
64:   17 / 29 / 18 / 0
Curators 46
artist-info records Dec 1960 - May 2016
Countries - Top 5 of 10
United States (48)
Germany (27)
Italy (5)
Switzerland (3)
New Zealand (1)
Cities - Top 5 of 42
New York (36)
Köln (6)
Frankfurt am Main (4)
Berlin (3)
Los Angeles (3)
Venues (no. of shows ) Top 5 of 64
Emily Harvey Gallery (6)
Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects (6)
MoMA PS1 (5)
Ubu Gallery (4)
Museum - MMK (4)
Curators (no. of shows) Top 5 of 46
Pontus Hultén(3), René Block(3), Harald Szeemann(2), Jean-Christophe Ammann(2), Jon Hendricks(1)
Offers/Requests Exhibition Announcement S / G Solo/Group Exhibitions   (..) Exhibitions + Favorites
Exhibition Title

The Sonnabend Collection

 - Half a Century of American and European Art. Part I
Fundação de Serralves G Feb 2016 - May 2016 Porto (22) +0
Homem, Antonio (Curator)       +0
Braga, Isabel Sousa (Curator)       +0
Exhibition Title

International Pop

Walker Art Center G Apr 2015 - Sep 2015 Minneapolis (299) +0
Alexander, Darsie (Curator)       +0
Ryan, Bartholomew (Curator)       +0
Exhibition Title

Arche Noah

 - Über Tier und Mensch in der Kunst
Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U G Nov 2014 - Apr 2015 Dortmund (102) +0
Exhibition Title

Rineke Dijkstra

 - The Krazy House - Auswahl Rineke Dijkstra
Museum - MMK G Feb 2013 - May 2013 Frankfurt am Main (105) +0
Dijkstra, Rineke (Curator)       +0
Asheville Art Museum G Jan 2013 - Jan 2013 Asheville (30) +0
Exhibition Title

LOST (in LA)

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery - LAMAG G Nov 2012 - Feb 2013 Los Angeles (40) +0
Wahler, Marc-Olivier (Curator)       +0
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