PARIS.- Thaddaeus Ropac announced representation of the Hans Josephsohn Estate, working in collaboration with the Kesselhaus Josephsohn, the archive and exhibition space in St. Gallen where the artist's sculptural estate is conserved and catalogued. Thaddaeus Ropac gallery will work together with Galerie Max Hetzler, Skarstedt Gallery and Karma International, continuing to build on Josephsohn's artistic legacy. The gallery will present the first solo exhibition of the Swiss sculptor's work in the Salzburg gallery in July 2024. A retrospective of his work, curated by Albert Oehlen, will open in October 2024 at the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris.
We are delighted to begin this new collaboration with Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, which represents a significant step in the evolution of Josephsohn's legacy as his work is increasingly understood by international audiences. — Ulrich Meinherz, Kesselhaus Josephsohn
Over the course of six decades, Hans Josephsohn (1920—2012) developed a wholly unique visual language that defies categorisation and has been impactful both on his contemporaries and the following generation of artists. His work has been on view in substantial solo exhibitions at the Museum Folkwang, Essen (2018); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (2013); MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2008); and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2002). In 2012, his work was shown alongside Alberto Giacometti’s at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.
Hans Josephsohn is one of the most overlooked sculptors of the 20th Century. He is deeply rooted in the tradition of European sculpture yet he was never part of an artist movement, allowing him to develop a wholly independent vision. — Thaddaeus Ropac
Pushing the boundaries of figurative representation and its perception in sculpture, Josephsohn’s works are defined by a powerful corporeality, placing emphasis on the very substance of the human form. His artistic exploration of human existence stems from his contemplation of his own experiences, predominantly shaped by his daily work in the studio and the human interactions enacted within his personal sphere. ‘The starting point is simply us,’ the artist has stated. Transcending mere representation, his approach to representing the body can thus be understood as deeply personal explorations of the human condition.
Standing, sitting, and recumbent in full- or half-figures and reliefs, Josephsohn created tender images of human beings. His depictions of the body range from the more directly figurative, stele-like sculptures of his early years to the abstracted volumes he created from the 1980s onwards, culminating in late half- length figures that only subtly allude to the body with their totemic forms. Crafted from plaster and cast in brass or bronze, his sculptures are raw and tactile, with roughly finished, haptic surfaces that often still bear traces of the artist's fingermarks. Balancing careful precision with expressive treatment, the powerfully textured surfaces imbue his works with a sense of exuberance and humanity, capturing the essence of the lived body.
What has always interested me so much about Josephsohn's work is that it is ultimately timeless, in my understanding. It cannot be clearly placed in a history of art, a history of sculpture. Josephsohn is Josephsohn. — Udo Kittelmann
