May 2008
Roman Signer (1938) has become an exceptional figure in the international art world. From the early seventies, he has been making sculptures, installations and films of everyday objects in unexpected situations. Reisebilder zwischen Leben und Tod gives an impression of Signer's versatility as a film maker, photographer, sculptor, installation maker and draughtsman. The works on display come from the museum's collection and from Signer's private collection, and they give insight into both his recent activities and the themes and ideas that have been inspiring him for almost forty years.
Signer is a master of touching on the triviality of our existence. Though the Swiss artist dislikes the term 'slapstick' that is attached to his actions, there is a 'deadpan' quality to the way in which they visualise existential fear and the absurdity of things, which shows Signer as a true comedian with all the attendant melancholy and human insight.
In 2000, the Bonnefantenmuseum organised Signer's first international museum retrospective. A series of acquisitions and a joint production led to an ensemble of works that can be counted among the most multi-faceted and extensive in the world. Important acquisitions included the video installation cum piaggio Nachtfahrt, 1999, and the complete collection of Super 8 films created between 1975 and 1989. They form the foundation of Signer's artistry. In 1999, with support from the Limburg Water Board, the eight-armed water basin with bobbing kayak entitled Wasserinstallation was produced especially for the museum's cupola tower.
In a special arrangement, Reisebilder zwischen Leben und Tod shows practically the whole museum collection. There will also be a large projection of ten Super 8 films, in collaboration with the artist. Alongside more recent video works, over seventy works on paper will be exhibited. They come from Signer's huge collection of working drawings and have never left his studio before. They are note-like sketches for projects that almost never carried out.
Also from Signer's private collection are forty photographic works from 2005, entitled Strassenbilder. He made these during one of his many journeys, this time to the Ukraine. The apparently simple snapshots of fruit stalls and roadside monuments once more betray Signer's special sense of the absurd and the transcendental in everyday life. These photos have been published in a catalogue in collaboration with Roman Signer and Peter Zimmermann (produced by Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, with an introductory text by Paula van den Bosch).
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