As the reflect of the spirit that PIASA auction house has developed over the years, the anniversary sale "5 to 118" offers emblematic pieces of different departments. Among them, the monumental installation of John M Armleder.
The tranquillity of the shore of Lake Geneva is the place where John M Armleder spent the first years of his life. Born in Geneva, this artist, still living and working in Switzerland, has often represented his country, for example in 1986 at the Venice Biennale. With artists close to the Fluxus movement, John M Armleder founded in 1969 the group Ecart. Until its dissolution in 1982, this epicenter of the Swiss avant-garde had the ambition to reinvest the heritage of conceptual and minimalist art of the past decade.
John M. Armleder (né en 1948)
Sans titre (furniture sculpture), 2008
Estimate : 60000 / 90000 €
John Armleder's work invites viewers to question the status of the artwork in terms of both its intimate perception and its public reception.
The critical distance that John M Armleder installs with his own artistic activity connotes certain pieces with a humorous, even ironic dimension. Fed by references and borrowings from the history of art, his works are at the confluence of sculpture, painting and design.
The monumental installation that PIASA auction house offers for sale was realized in 2008. In front of a triptych six meters wide covered with oil paint and glitter, eight stools stand vertically. Estimated between 60,000 and 80,000 euros, the work is characteristic of the motley creation of an artist seeking more to surprise than seduce.
