Lot 3504 - A197 PostWar & Contemporary - Thursday, 01. July 2021, 05.00 PM
PETER FISCHLI & DAVID WEISS
(Zurich 1952–lives and works in Zurich) (1946 Zurich 2012)
Wall. 1986/87.
Rubber.
Edition 4/5.
41.7 × 93 × 33.7 cm.
Provenance:
- Galerie Monika Sprüth, Cologne.
- Purchased in 1994 from the above, since then private collection Switzerland.
- Private collection, Switzerland.
"Unlike Pop art, which turns one particular object into an icon, [Rubber Sculptures] are a collection of replicas of worthless everyday objects… we want to take things out of the niche where they belong and transport them somewhere else, but without denying their origins." – Peter Fischli
The artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss are amongst the most internationally respected exponents of Swiss contemporary art. Their often parodic take on everyday themes enables the wider public to access to their art directly, even without prior knowledge of art history. This kind of artistic creation shows parallels with American Pop Art. The essential difference, however, is revealed in the intention of the artist duo: in contrast to Pop Art, which gives iconic status to certain everyday objects, the Swiss artists concentrate on the production of replicas of worthless everyday objects, devoting themselves to the commonplace, the ordinary and the mediocre.
The shiny black rubber cast of a brick wall is a perfect example of their penchant for ordinary objects and their transformation into a work of art. Fischli & Weiss make use of a material which is typically used for car tyres and other durable products. Like Pop Art, the choice of this material evokes associations with industry and mass production. Although rubber has appeared before as a found object in Fluxus or Pop Art assemblages, its use for casting everyday objects is unconventional. Thus, with "Wall", Fischli & Weiss skilfully represent the playful and the casually disarming, and bestow an often forgotten everyday structure with an aesthetic that is nevertheless unexpected.
Created in 1986, the work belongs to Fischli & Weiss' popular series of "Rubber Sculptures" (1986/2005), an encyclopaedic collection of realistic sculptures. In this version, the wall is one of the earliest objects in the 24-part series, created between 1986 and 1987 and exhibited at Art Basel shortly afterwards.
CHF 70 000 / 90 000 | (€ 72 160 / 92 780)
Sold for CHF 91 800 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.