HANNE DARBOVEN

On April 29, 2011 Hanne Darboven would have turned 70. Sammlung Falckenberg /Deichtorhallen Hamburg have resolved to honor her by dedicating a permanent exhibition room at the Phoenix Halls to her oeuvre.
Strangely enigmatic and seemingly monotonous sequences of signs, data, everyday images, texts and soundtracks are characteristic elements in the works of Hanne Darboven, who can probably be regarded as the most important female protagonist of concept art in Germany – during her lifetime there were more than 100 solo shows of her pieces worldwide, and she took part in the documenta exhibitions on no less than four occasions. After training at the Hamburg Academy of Visual Arts, Hanne Darboven headed in the mid-1960s for New York, where she collaborated with the likes of Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Mel Bochner, Joseph Kosuth, and Lawrence Weiner and was represented by Leo Castelli and Konrad Fischer. The attempt to visualize the sequence of time in a highly rational manner is the red thread running through her oeuvre. Starting with the calendar date and its “sub-total”, she developed what she termed “mathematical prose”. From the late 1970s onwards, Hanne Darboven also transposed her conceptual system onto music and she also increasingly made use of image material in her work, referencing real historical persons and events of the day. During the final decades of her life, Hanne Darboven lived and worked in her parental home in Hamburg’s Harburg district, less than five kilometers from the Phoenix Halls.
In 1991, Deichtorhallen held a major retrospective on the grand old lady of German concept art. And in 2004 Sammlung Falckenberg showcased among others her piece “Opus 45 Kontrabasssolo” (1998-2000) as well as installations on loan from other private collections. The first display in the room permanently dedicated to Hanne Darboven’s oeuvre at Sammlung Falckenberg / Deichtorhallen Hamburg will feature works from three private Hamburg collections as well as her pieces “Appointment diary” (1988-1989) and “Theater 85” (1985), both part of Sammlung Falckenberg.