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| Thomas Bayrle (D, 1937, lives and works Frankfurt) worked in a textile mill from 1958 to 1960. Fascinated by the combinatory networks and structures of cloth, he began to dream of immense virtual cities by analogy. The thread is the individual, the large bundle of threads the collective, and thousands of interwoven threads society. In 1964 he was struck by the mass demonstrations in China, especially the immense gatherings in stadiums, where each individual was a point in a frequently changing giant image. In this way Bayrle eventually developed his superimages, large motifs made up of a multitude of tiny identical motifs (points, grids, pictograms, advertising logos, etc.). Drawing, collage, silkscreen, wallpaper, printing on impermeable material, accumulation of objects, all techniques are grist to his mill for producing rather Pop-looking works—they are bright and colorful—that nevertheless convey a critical message vis-à-vis consumer society and political indoctrination. Bayrle also uses road motifs and their different types of crossings, splits and combinations, sometimes sticking press photographs on these handmade networks.
Starting in the late 1980s, the artist began creating animated films, notably Autobahn-Kopf, in which a head contains dozens of fragments of highways crammed with automobiles. His techniques are experimental. For example, he mixes 35 mm images with still photos and photocopies, and, after 1993, he began manipulating the computer to create highly complex digital animation. For two decades now he has been a professor at Frankfurt’s Städelschule. His work was recently the subject of a major solo show at the Museum für Moderne Kunst of Frankfurt, which was accompanied by a sumptuous publication entitled 40 Years Chinese Rock’n’roll (Buchhandlung Walther König). Taking as his starting point a presentation of his films and videos, Bayrle will speak (in English) about his life in art, a career that stretches over 40 years. List of films and videos: Auto, 1980; Autobahn-Kopf, 1988/89, 10’, 16mm; Maggi, 1993, 2’30’’, video; Superstars, 1993, 9’, video; Sunbeam, 1993/94, 6’, video; Gummibaum, 1993/94, 6’, 16 mm; (b)alt, 1997, 4’, video, Dolly Animation, undated, 6’36’’, video. With special thanks to Francesca Pia Gallery, Zurich | |||||||||||||
