Jimmie Durham
Late Last Night (Ate Last Nigh) (At La Nit) (A A I!)
April 30 – June 23, 2010

Ausstellung: 30. April – 23. Juni 2010
Eröffnung: Freitag, 30. April, 16–21 Uhr
während des Gallery Weekend Berlin am Samstag und Sonntag, den
1. und 2. Mai von 10 bis 19 Uhr geöffnet

In seinem Buch Zwischen Mobiliar und Haus bezeichnet Jimmie Durham sich selbst als theoretischen Biologen – als jemanden, der Verhaltensweisen und Normen des Zusammenlebens in verschiedenen Gesellschaften beschreibt.
Als Künstler und Schriftsteller ist ihm aber eine tiefe Skepsis gegenüber der normierten Sprache eigen und so entwickelt er neben essayistisch-literarischen Texten hauptsächlich eine visuelle Sprache. In Skulpturen, Assemblagen, Zeichnungen und Installationen thematisiert er kulturelles Verhalten und immer wieder seinen eigenen Standpunkt dazu. Das Ergebnis ist eine kritische Reflexion, die die eigene Verstricktheit mitdenkt. In einem Interview im heyoka magazine gibt er dafür ein schönes Beispiel:
I try to make art that’s not connected to metaphor, that hasn’t this descriptive, metaphorical, architectural weight to it. But I think my tendency, and most artists’ tendency - most artists that I know, especially, in the last 20 years - is to make instructive art, art that instructs us about something, or to make sublime art - art that says, "I’m the sensitive person, I’m your guide and you could never have seen this without me, the sensitive artist showing it to you’. I think those are the two sins we now have in art, I feel that for myself.

Dekonstruktion, Selbstkritik, Ironie und Witz kennzeichnen die Werke von Jimmie Durham. In seiner dritten Einzelausstellung in unserer Galerie zeigt er die Installation Late Last Night (Ate Las Nigh) (At La Nit) (A A I !).
Er verwandelt die Räume in ein Wohnzimmer mit Teppichen, Vorhängen und tapetenartiger Wandbemalung. In dieser Atmosphäre bürgerlicher Wohnkultur, die an Filme von Jean Cocteau erinnert, präsentiert er seine Zeichnungen und Textbilder. Die Galerie wird so zu einer Art filmischem Raum, in dem sich absurde Bilder und Sätze kreuzen, wie in einem Traum. Durham schreibt dazu: the over-all look of the show is not especially unusual, i think, except for the gallery itself. the works try to be only a little different from the ordinary. if one attempted to see an over-all theme or narrative it would be dream-like, i think; with melancholy and un-heimlich but humourous jumps from one sentence to another.

Jimmie Durham, der zur Zeit auch beim International Festival of Visual Art ausstellt, hat die Arbeiten für diese Installation in den letzten Monaten in den Glasgow Sculpture Studios während eines Stipendienaufenthalts hergestellt.

An unserem zweiten Ausstellungsort am Schöneberger Ufer 65, 10785 Berlin, 3. OG, c/o Wien / Roth eröffnen wir Sonntag, 2. Mai, 12–15 Uhr eine weitere Ausstellung, in der u.a. Werke von Jimmie Durham aus den Jahren 1998 bis 2006 zu sehen sind.


Jimmie Durham (*1940)
Ausstellungen u.a.: Whitney Biennale (1993, 2005), Documenta IX, ICA London, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerpen, Biennale di Venezia (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2009)

Eine weitere Jimmie Durham Ausstellung findet parallel in der Galerie Opdahl, Berlin, statt.

Donnerstag, 29. April 2010, 19 Uhr:
Jimmie Durham im Gespräch mit Mick Taussig im Rahmen der Ausstellung Über Wut – On Rage im Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin

Exhibition: April 30 – June 23, 2010
Opening: Friday, April 30, 4–9 pm
during the Gallery Weekend Berlin Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2,
opening hours from 10 am to 7 pm

In his book Between the Furniture and the Building Jimmie Durham describes himself as a ’theoretical biologist’, a person who depicts the behaviors and norms of cohabitation in various communities. But as an artist and writer he looks skeptically at the norms of language and so he developes besides his essayistic and literary texts a visual language in sculptures, assemblages and drawings. There he speaks about cultural behaviors as well as his own position towards the rules of society. The result is a reflection, which is aware of the own involvement. In heyoka magazine he gave an interview in which this attitude is wonderfully described: I try to make art that’s not connected to metaphor, that hasn’t this descriptive, metaphorical, architectural weight to it. But I think my tendency, and most artists’ tendency - most artists that I know, especially, in the last 20 years - is to make instructive art, art that instructs us about something, or to make sublime art - art that says, "I’m the sensitive person, I’m your guide and you could never have seen this without me, the sensitive artist showing it to you’. I think those are the two sins we now have in art, I feel that for myself.

Deconstruction, self-criticism, humor and wit is significant for the works of Jimmie Durham. In his third solo exhibition in our gallery he shows the installation Late Last Night (Ate Las Nigh) (At La Nit) (A A I!). He changes the gallery space into a living room ensemble, complete with carpet, curtains and wallpaper painting. In this bourgeois home décor, which reminds us of films of Jean Cocteau, he presents drawings and text pictures. The gallery space becomes a kind of a filmic scene were absurde pictures and sentences are crossing each other like in a dream. Durham writes: the over-all look of the show is not especially unusual, i think, except for the gallery itself. the works try to be only a little different from the ordinary. if one attempted to see an over-all theme or narrative it would be dream-like, i think; with melancholy and un-heimlich but humourous jumps from one sentence to another.


Jimmie Durham who currently takes part in the International Festival of Visal Arts in Glasgow produced the works for our exhibition during his residency at Glasgow Sculpture Studios.

At our second exhibition space Schöneberger Ufer 65, 10785 Berlin, 3rd floor, c/o Wien/Roth, we open on Sunday, May 2, 12–3 pm a group exhibition with a.o. works by Jimmie Durham made between 1998 and 2006.


Jimmie Durham (* 1940)
exhibitions (selection): Whitney Biennial (1993, 2005), Documenta IX, ICA London, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Venice Biennale (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2009)

Other events:
April 29, 7 pm: Jimmie Durham and Mick Taussig in the exhibition Über Wut – On Rage at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.

Another Jimmie Durham show will take place in Galerie Opdahl, Berlin (till June 5).