Mary Bauermeister
Encyclopedia
Mary Hilde Ruth Bauermeister (born 7 September 1934 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German
artist.
in Ulm
and in 1955–56 at the Staatlichen Schule für Kunst und Handwerk in Saarbrücken
. She has been active since 1957 as a freelance artist in Cologne
.
Around 1960, in her Cologne atelier at Lintgasse 28, she hosted gatherings of members of the evolving global artistic movement Fluxus
. At her invitation, avant-garde poets, composers and visual artists such as Hans G Helms
, David Tudor
, John Cage
, Christo, Wolf Vostell
, George Brecht
, and Nam June Paik
organised unconventional concerts of the "newest music", readings, exhibits, and actions. These activities have been described as "comparatively non-hierarchical exchanges of information across national, disciplinary and age boundaries", contributing in that way to the character of the Fluxus movement which had been developing during the 1950s.
In 1961, she took part in Karlheinz Stockhausen
’s composition course at the Internationalen Ferienkursen für Neue Musik
in Darmstadt
. Later that same year she collaborated with Stockhausen in a theatre piece titled Originale (Originals), which was given twelve performances at the Theater am Dom, Cologne, from 26 October to 6 November 1961. Amongst the performers were Bauermeister herself (as The Painter), Nam June Paik (Actions), David Tudor (Piano and Percussion), and Hans G. Helms (The Poet). In 1962 she had her first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum
in Amsterdam
with a simultaneous day-long performance of electronic music under Stockhausen's direction. On 3 April 1967, in San Francisco, she married Stockhausen, with whom she had two children: Julika (born 1966) and Simon (born 1967). She has two younger daughters, Sophie (born 1972, father David Johnson) and Esther (born 1974, father Josef Halevi).
movement, in October 1962 Bauermeister relocated to New York
. In the artistic circles of Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme and Fluxus, she maintained friendships with Robert Rauschenberg
, Jasper Johns
, Niki de Saint Phalle
and Jean Tinguely
. In New York Bauermeister enjoyed considerable artistic success. Since 1964 she has exhibited regularly at the Galeria Bonino on 57th Street.
, the science of energy structures in the earth. She used the knowledge she garnered from these studies for the planning of gardens, which she implemented for public and private clients throughout the world. The artist now lives in Rösrath
near Cologne.
On the occasion of her 70th birthday in September 2004, the Cologne Museum Ludwig
acquired her 1963 wall installation Needless Needles and arranged a display of the work for several months.
Based on material translated from the German Wikipedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
artist.
Early life and family
Mary Bauermeister was artistically influenced in secondary school (1946–54) by her drawing teacher, Günter Ott. She studied in 1954–55 at the Hochschule für GestaltungUlm School of Design
The Ulm School of Design was a college of design based in Ulm, Germany.Founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill, the latter being first Rector of the school and a former student at the Bauhaus. The HfG quickly gained international recognition and is now viewed as being second...
in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
and in 1955–56 at the Staatlichen Schule für Kunst und Handwerk in Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
. She has been active since 1957 as a freelance artist in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Around 1960, in her Cologne atelier at Lintgasse 28, she hosted gatherings of members of the evolving global artistic movement Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
. At her invitation, avant-garde poets, composers and visual artists such as Hans G Helms
Hans G. Helms
Hans G Helms is a German experimental writer, composer, and social and economic analyst and critic....
, David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Christo, Wolf Vostell
Wolf Vostell
Wolf Vostell was a German painter, sculptor, noise music maker and Happening artist of the second half of the 20th century. Wolf Vostell is considered one of the pioneers of video art, environment-sculptures, Happenings and the Fluxus Movement...
, George Brecht
George Brecht
George Brecht , born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Mobil Oil...
, and Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....
organised unconventional concerts of the "newest music", readings, exhibits, and actions. These activities have been described as "comparatively non-hierarchical exchanges of information across national, disciplinary and age boundaries", contributing in that way to the character of the Fluxus movement which had been developing during the 1950s.
In 1961, she took part in Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
’s composition course at the Internationalen Ferienkursen für Neue Musik
Darmstadt New Music Summer School
Initiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt , held annually until 1970 and subsequently every two years, encompass both the teaching of composition and interpretation and include premières of new works...
in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. Later that same year she collaborated with Stockhausen in a theatre piece titled Originale (Originals), which was given twelve performances at the Theater am Dom, Cologne, from 26 October to 6 November 1961. Amongst the performers were Bauermeister herself (as The Painter), Nam June Paik (Actions), David Tudor (Piano and Percussion), and Hans G. Helms (The Poet). In 1962 she had her first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Founded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
with a simultaneous day-long performance of electronic music under Stockhausen's direction. On 3 April 1967, in San Francisco, she married Stockhausen, with whom she had two children: Julika (born 1966) and Simon (born 1967). She has two younger daughters, Sophie (born 1972, father David Johnson) and Esther (born 1974, father Josef Halevi).
Residence in New York
Drawn by the vitality of the Pop ArtPop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
movement, in October 1962 Bauermeister relocated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. In the artistic circles of Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme and Fluxus, she maintained friendships with Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
, Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
, Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine-Marie-Agnès-Brandon Fal de Saint Phalle was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker.-The early years:...
and Jean Tinguely
Jean Tinguely
Jean Tinguely was a Swiss painter and sculptor. He is best known for his sculptural machines or kinetic art, in the Dada tradition; known officially as metamechanics...
. In New York Bauermeister enjoyed considerable artistic success. Since 1964 she has exhibited regularly at the Galeria Bonino on 57th Street.
Later life
In the 1970s, Mary Bauermeister returned to Germany and began to occupy herself with marginal sciences, for example GeomancyGeomancy
Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand...
, the science of energy structures in the earth. She used the knowledge she garnered from these studies for the planning of gardens, which she implemented for public and private clients throughout the world. The artist now lives in Rösrath
Rösrath
Rösrath is a city in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The earliest known documents mentioning the settlement Rösrath can be found in documents dated to 1356. There have been findings of Paleolithic and Mesolithic tools in the city area Forsbach...
near Cologne.
On the occasion of her 70th birthday in September 2004, the Cologne Museum Ludwig
Museum Ludwig
Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from PopArt, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It also features many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein....
acquired her 1963 wall installation Needless Needles and arranged a display of the work for several months.
Based on material translated from the German Wikipedia