Michael Buthe

“For me my sun is, like all paintings, a functional object for seeing, for feeling, for dreaming, for understanding” are the words Michael Buthe (1944–1994) uses to describe his recurring, central motif. With bright colors or radiant gold, the artist assembles the entire world—indeed, the entire universe—within the circle of this heavenly body. Michael Buthe has no reservations: taking his lead from German Art Informel and American Minimal Art, he is fascinated by non-European cultures, counters the cool concept of Minimalism with pronounced sensuousness, and seduces viewers into raising spiritual as well as social questions. The retrospective brings together apparently archaic assemblages, brightly colored works on paper, and intensely worked canvases, collages, and paintings in gold. The documentation of installations, which in their opulence address all the senses, also allows gaining access to Michael Buthe’s spatial works.

Ausstellungen/Exhibitions: Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern/Lucerne 31.10.2015–31.01.2016 | Im Anschluss/further venues S.M.A.K. Gent/Ghent |Haus der Kunst, München/Munich