Page 177 - The 60.Venice Biennial & MoMA issue of WOA Contemporary Art magazine

 Thomas Schütte. Bronzefrau Nr. 17 (Bronze Woman No. 17), 2006. Patinated
bronze on steel table. 80 3/8×49 1/4×98 1/2" (204×125×250 cm). Art Institute of
Chicago. Through prior gifts or bequests of Leo S. Guthman, Fowler McCormick,
Albert A. Robin, Marguerita S. Ritman, Emily Crane Chadbourne, Florence S.
McCormick, and Judith Neisser; purchased with funds provided by Per Skarstedt;
20th Century Purchase and Robert and Marlene Baumgarten funds. Photo: The Art
Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, New York. © 2024 Thomas Schütte / Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Thomas Schütte. Selbstportrait. 30/31.5.75 (Self-portrait: 5/30–31/75), 1975. Oil
on nettle cloth. 23 5/8 × 17 11/16" (60 × 45 cm). Collection the artist, Düsseldorf.
Photo: Luise Heuter. © 2024 Thomas Schütte / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonnn

Thomas Schütte. Ackermans Tempel III (Modell 1:10) (Ackerman’s Temple III
[Model 1:10]), 2011. LEGO bricks, wood, and aluminum. 19 1/8×17 5/8×23 1/16"
(45×44.7×60.7 cm). Collection the artist, Düsseldorf. Photo: Luise Heuter. © 2024
Thomas Schütte /Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

 Thomas Schütte. Untitled (United Enemies), 1994. Modeling clay, fabric, rope, and
plastic pipe on wood pedestal with glass bell jar. 74×9 13/16×9 13/16" (188×25×25
cm). De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands. Photo: Peter Cox. © 2024 Thomas
Schütte / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Schütte said, “Art is beautiful but requires considerable effort,”
referencing the German art dealer Curt Valentin. Pobocha
explains, “This quote reveals so much about Thomas’s
approach to art-making. Even the simplest gesture arises
from a concentrated study of form and content, reflections
on history, and how art - whether sculpture, drawing, or
architecture - relates to the world beyond itself. More than
this, he implicitly asks his audience to meet him halfway, to
take time with the work. This too requires effort, but the most
rewarding kind.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated
catalogue examining Schütte’s practice from his training at the
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf to the present. Essays by Pobocha,
Jennifer Allen, and André Rottmann provide art historical,
historical, and theoretical pathways into the complexity of
Schütte’s oeuvre. Artists Marlene Dumas and Charles Ray
reflect on his significance through close readings of his work.

WORLD of ART 177