Chrisitan Lemmerz & Norbert Tadeusz: MEAT

Faurschou Foundation is pleased to present, for the first time together, an exhibition of works by the two German artists, Christian Lemmerz and Norbert Tadeusz, in the Beijing space.

The exhibition MEAT shows Christian Lemmerz’s most recent monumental, white marble sculptures and Norbert Tadeusz’s overwhelming, colourful and expressive paintings. Both artists, each in their own way, have worked with the subject of meat.

The depiction of meat has a long art historical tradition. Throughout art history, meat has played a major role in the works of some of the world’s greatest artists: for example, Rembrandt, Chaim Soutine and Francis Bacon, to name but a few. Christian Lemmerz and Norbert Tadeusz are no exception. That means they are taking a place in an important tradition in the history of art. 

Christian Lemmerz has created three large white marble sculptures, which combine the classic, white aesthetic with a morbid theme, which in turn challenges the notions of art, beauty and death. Lemmerz’s sculptures draw the observers closer and seduce them. At first glance, however, the impressive technique seems to be overshadowed by the works’ raw brutal themes: for example, death, crucifixion and mutilation. The result is a contrast between the stunning and the terrible in a transgressive aesthetic, which is beautifully immortalised in marble.

In his colourful, powerful works, Norbert Tadeusz portrays slaughtered animal carcasses and exposed human bodies. His paintings are the result of his studies of the exhibited and exposed body, which is depicted in the colourful and dynamic pictorial works. Tadeusz was inspired by everyday impressions, but gave those motives a surreal twist, which made his paintings ambiguous and more profound, and created a narrative of life.

Biographies
Christian Lemmerz (1959-) was born in Germany. Today he lives and works in Denmark and Italy. From 1978 to 1982 he studied at the The Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Italy, and from 1983 to 1988 at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Lemmerz expresses himself in a variety of media: film, performance, sculpture, drawing, painting and installation works. He has explored unconventional materials, as can be seen for example in his early margarine sculptures and his slaughtered pigs exhibited in glass cases. He also works with traditional materials such as bronze and marble. Many of Lemmerz’s works focus on taboo-related themes taken from contemporary or historical events.

Norbert Tadeusz (1940-2011) was born in Dortmund, Germany. He studied at the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf from 1961 to 1966. In 1970 he had his first solo exhibition at Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, which was followed by several worldwide gallery and museum exhibitions. Tadeusz was included in the Venice Biennale in 1982. He gave lectures at various academies in China: Chongqing, Chengdu, Xian, Shanghai and Beijing in 2001. His energetic, intense and colourful works range from still life elements, dead animal carcasses, to abstract depictions of the everyday life.

Faurschou Foundation
Faurschou Foundation is a privately owned art institution with a collection of contemporary art, and with exhibition venues at Copenhagen North Harbour as well as Beijing’s attractive art neighbourhood, 798. Faurschou Foundation introduces visitors to some of the world’s most acclaimed artists. Faurschou Foundation’s collection is constantly being developed and expanded.

Over a very short period, since its establishment in 2011 Faurschou Foundation has profiled itself as a significant art institution with solo exhibitions of artists such as Ai Weiwei, Cai Guo-Qiang, Louise Bourgeois, Shirin Neshat, Gabriel Orozco, Danh Vo and Bill Viola.

For further information please contact: 
Cecilia Pedersen (Curator, Faurschou Foundation): cecilia@faurschou.com / T +45 33 91 41 31