Gottfried Salzmann, "Orchestrating the Accidental" (2012)

431 West Broadway New York NY 10012 2 1 2 . 2 2 6 . 1 61 6 8 0 0 . 9 2 6 . 9 53 7 f r an k lin b o w le s g a l l e r y. c o m

FRANKLIN BOWLES GALLERIES

765 / 799 Beach Street San Francisco CA 94109 415.441.8008 800.926.9535

GOTTFRIED SALZMANN: ORCHESTRATING THE ACCIDENTAL

F RA NK LI N B OW L E S G AL L E RI ES

GOTTFRIED

SALZMANN

GOTTFRIED SALZMANN ORCHESTRATING THE ACCIDENTAL

Franklin Bowles Galleries san francisco new york

ORCHESTRATING THE ACCIDENTAL

Gottfried Salzmann was born near Salzburg in 1943 and came of age in post-war Europe. The youngest of three children, neither he nor his siblings had much exposure to art when they were growing up. However, at the age of 12 when asked what he would like for Christmas, he requested a book about art. He was given a book chronicling the history of painting and was set on his life’s path. Salzmann has stated that “even at that young age, when I looked at the illustrations in the book, I knew that inside, I too was a painter.”

After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna to pursue a formal education in the arts. In 1964 during his first year of studies at the Academy, Salzmann made a decision to visit all the great museums of Europe. He wanted first-hand exposure to the great artists and great paintings of the past. This sojourn took him to the Tate Gallery in London where he saw the works of J.M.W.Turner for the first time.

J.M.W. Turner, Northham Castle Sunrise

It was an epiphany – he knew immediately how he wanted to paint and the medium he wanted to use. Gottfried then went to the British museum and received a permit for a private viewing of their entire Turner collection. He was in awe; “I held them in my hands. It was clear to me; I wanted to paint like Turner. It was an emotional experience, they were too beautiful, that was the direction I wanted to take.” Later that summer, he hitch-hiked to Paris and became enamored with the French culture. He loved everything – the city, the food, the architecture and a girl named Nicole, who became his wife! For Salzmann, France was the country to which he was mentally and spiritually connected.

ARTISTIC INFLUENCES

Turner gave Salzmann his initial passion for watercolor painting, but there was a strong tradition and local talent in modern Europe as well. At the turn of the 20th century the Expressionists of German-speaking Europe often used watercolor, rather than oil paint, for its immediacy. Artists such as Emil Nolde, Ernst Kirchner and Egon Schiele were masters of the medium. A 1973 exhibition at the Albertina Museum in Vienna, 100 Viennese Watercolors from 1780-1900, did much to inspire the next generation of Austrian watercolorists, including Salzmann. Gottfried was the youngest in the Austrian “gang of four” who exhibited their watercolors in Salzburg and Vienna in the late 1960s; the others were Kurt Moldovan, Rudolf Hradil and Hans Kruckenhauser.

OPPOSITE :

NY S QUARE 2011 watercolor 40 x 41 cm / 16 x 16 in.

J.M.W. Turner, St. Erasmus in Bishop Islips Chapel, Westminster Abbey

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Salzmann was influenced by other German artists from the early 20th century: like Kokoschka, he would explore the sublime qualities of color, light and darkness and from Klimt he would discover the importance of surface. And, he was influenced by his contemporaries: from his fellow “gang-of-four” member Hradil, he learned the nuances of color and the skillful use of gray tones along with a love of etching as a synthesis of craft and artistic expression. Salzmann also notes being influenced by Hunderwassser who, like Salzmann, attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and had his first success in Austria. They also share a love of architecture and the artists Gustave Klimt and Egon Schiele.

Another influence is Anselm Kiefer. Originally a photographer, Kiefer has been a major proponent of assemblage using photography as his matrix and then incorporating materials like straw, ash, clay and lead. As in Salzmann’s work, Kiefer’s collage elements are encoded sigils (symbols created for a specific magical purpose) through which he seeks to process the past and both artists use familiar materials to express ideas about urban identity.

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Meanwhile, in the United States, ar tistic experimentation had become a major focus in the New York art scene resulting in the development of Abstract Expressionism and watercolor began to lose some of its popularity. Watercolors were small and intimate in scale and were subordinate to the huge canvases of the Abstract Expressionists. Singularly however, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) utilized large areas of transparent washes and color-staining on his canvases to create large scale works which were atmospheric, contemplative and reminiscent of the watercolor tradition. His painting and technique would be an important influence on Salzmann’s work.

PAINTING TECHNIQUES

Mark Rothko, Landscape

Over time, Gottfried Salzmann has garnered an unmatched reputation as a watercolorist and has been quoted declaring, “There is nothing I can’t do in this medium.” However, he is not content with his fame and accomplishments as a watercolorist; he has gone back to his past and resurrected old skills and techniques in order to challenge himself and to find new directions for his creative drive. He has succeeded in associating watercolor with related disciplines such as drawing, printmaking, photography and acrylic painting. He is constantly trying new marriages, mixing one, two, three mediums or more to see the results. And always there are the unifying overlays of tones and washes, his watercolor roots which synthesize the diverse elements into the whole. Although Gottfried’s work as a bricoleur seems relatively recent, it was during his studies at the Beaux Arts in Paris in 1967 that he created his first series of mostly abstract collages.

An early Gottried Salzmann watercolor, Bessancourt

Always a skilled photographer, Salzmann took up his camera once again in a strange twist of fate. From his early beginnings, when he first held the work of Turner in his hands, Salzmann realized that in order to gain optimal effects with his brushes, he had to have the best watercolor paper to paint upon. Salzmann is not a typical weekend warrior happy to gently swish a little pigment onto a page; his creativity requires a degree of physicality that would surprise most collectors. He works the paper, scraping, scratching, drying, wetting back and forth until he gets the desired effects and surface that he wants. Most paper could never hold up under such treatment. Therefore, for many years he always used the same British watercolor paper until – the company closed! Salzmann traveled all over Europe buying up remaining stocks of the paper wherever he could find it; he even resorted to painting over less successful works or turning them over and using the verso. Inevitably, this carefully conserved store of paper was consumed and he realized there was no choice but to find another surface that he could work on, one that would give him the durability and the results that his creativity demanded.

One day it occurred to him, “why not paint on photographic paper?” Realizing that such paper had to have a certain sturdiness to take the printer inks and chemical emulsions, he was off in a new direction. Salzmann found that photography paper could be worked much like the watercolor paper he could no longer purchase and he spent several months experimenting with the possibilities. Ultimately, he decided that he would not only work on the photography paper but he would also incorporate the printed image into his compositions in a form of photomontage. Soon, he was also collecting the abandoned remnants from the city streets and walls that he loved to paint, and these elements were also added to the collage.

Gottried Salzmann is a master at orchestrating the accidental.

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Gottried Salzmann, Photographers Wanted - see pp. 21

Watercolor is traditionally a medium in which one must be humble in the face of water. Although one can generally control where the brush makes its mark, the amount of pigment, and the amount of water, the result on the paper is largely uncontrollable. The exact way the pigment dries in a heavily pooled brushstroke is beyond control – the novice, upon seeing his mark drying against his wish, rushes back into the semi dry area to save it – alas, the novice’s very need for control inevitably destroys the watercolor that he tried to save. Experience, confidence, and humility are needed to create vibrant, calligraphic marks that describe without being labored. Watercolor is essentially planning for and predicting future accidents, and being at peace with the result.

Photography is a medium in which quantity is usually used to trump accident. In Salzmann’s case, while photographing the cityscape, he controls what he shoots, but what occurs inside of the full composition is largely out of his control.

The movement of the city is captured by the shutter. The idea is his, but the placement of cars, buildings, graffiti, and advertisements are largely beyond his control. You compose from the present, trying to capture the essence of what is before you, often it is what you did not anticipate that makes the photo memorable. The photographer needs to be in tune with the accidents of the moment. You shoot the present, accidents and all.

Salzmann manipulates the exposure when printing to achieve different effects; he then can paint on the surface with watercolor or acrylic. He also incorporates his photographs into a work of art by using them as collage elements. He cuts and crops his photos, attaches them to his canvas or paper matrix and then proceeds to paint around and on top of the image. In the printing process, he may use different types of acid to burn and alter the surface to create different visual effects but each photo is used only once making the finished artworks truly unique.

Collage is construction through remnants, an assemblage of different forms which create a new whole. The past weighs heavy. Moving through the streets Gottfried will pull down flyers and vinyl signs, fragments of the cities’ recent past. A movie poster, an advertisement, a fragment of ticker tape, images and words that speak to him as he walks by. What he finds is what the city has left behind, the random bits from the past. As the artist, Salzmann must work from this accidental fodder: construct, arrange and find the beauty from the remnants that embody the feeling of the city. These chopped-up bits of introduced fragments insert externally-referenced meaning into the collision. This juxtaposition of signifiers, "at once serious and tongue-in-cheek," was fundamental to the inspiration behind collage. Emphasizing concept and process over end product, collage has brought the incongruous into meaningful congress with the ordinary.

Gottfried Salzmann, A Passionate World - see pp.19 It is no coincidence that Salzmann’s increased interest in photography and collage has coincided with his fascination for the city. These mediums allow Gottfried greater immersion into the urbane; his works literally form from the cities themselves. The fusion of painting, photography, and collage is a fusion of accidents: the past, present, and future.

S AN F RANCISCO 2010 watercolor 65 x 50 cm 26 x 20 in.

PAINTING THE CITY

As Salzmann’s themes have moved from landscape to cityscape, the birds-eye view is the continuing reference point of his work and helps to explain his longtime fascination with skyscrapers. Although particularly interested in American skyscrapers, his first architectural interests were the gothic cathedrals of France, the skyscrapers of their day. While a

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student he visited a different cathedral every weekend until he had seen them all. Most people find the massive scale of skyscrapers both visually and viscerally exciting; Salzmann views them as a subject for art. Additionally, in today’s cities, whether New York or San Francisco, there is an overlay of street art which has invaded all corners of the urban environment. Salzmann wanders the streets and alleys of cities photographing the process of change and aging - the weathering, the decay, and the inevitable exclamation point of the anonymous street artist making his mark for posterity.

Salzmann captures these moments with his camera, his brush and his heart, a flâneur recording the passage of time.

Salzmann is a true postmodernist artist. Many of the traits which define postmodern art can be found in his work – the prominent use of words and language as central elements, collage, simplification, appropriation, the graphic depiction of consumer society. He conflates high and low culture through the use of industrial materials and pop imagery. He rejects modernism’s grand narrative of artistic direction by erasing the boundaries between high and low forms of art, disrupting expectations with collision, collage and fragmentation.

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At the age of 25, Salzmann was given his first one-man exhibition at Galerie Welz. Fredrich Welz, who also represented Oskar Kokoschka (who became another important influence on Gottfried’s style), was a well-respected gallerist and art-book publisher in Salzmann’s native Salzburg. Since that auspicious beginning, Salzmann’s career has been stellar.

Recent achievements and tributes include the publication of his monograph in 2006, in conjunction with a retrospective and the opening of the G. Salzmann Room dedicated to his art at the Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum. This was followed by the debut of his haunting 9/11 collection in 2007 at the Austrian Embassy in Washington D.C. and his inaugural exhibition in 2008 at the L’Espace Raymond Moretti in his adopted city of Paris. In 2009, he was privileged to be included in the exhibition, The City of Salzburg - Views from Five Centuries at the Salzburg Museum, Neue Residenz, as well as the Best of Austria exhibit at the Lentos Kunst Museum celebrating the best artists of Austria.The 2010 exhibition at the Schömer-Haus-Museum Essl., The Beginning of a Collection, reprised their first exhibition of 1979 and last but certainly not least, his award in 2011 of the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture was a superlative honor.

Gottfried Salzmann came to San Francisco for the first time in 2010 and fell in love with the city. His perspective was that San Francisco was a big city masquerading as a small city. It is a different topography; there are not the skyscraper canyons that you find in Manhattan, but San Francisco has a Mediterranean light and a blue bay which create a romantic backdrop to the city center, particularly when up high peering down from a classic Salzmann aerial view. He likes the way the small houses and buildings taper down the sides of the hills towards the sea.

Over a period of 40 years, Gottfried Salzmann’s career has remained vital and constant; the curve of his creativity is ever upward. Franklin Bowles Galleries has been privileged to represent the work of Salzmann in New York since 2003. We are thrilled that his abilities are being recognized by so many in the art world, and we are extremely proud to present his work in our San Francisco gallery for the first time.

SF G REEN WALL 2010 mixed media, photograph on canvas 81 x 60 cm / 32 x 24 in.

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P RINCE S TREET 2010 mixed media on photograph 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

S UBWAY S TAIRS 2009 mixed media, photograph on canvas 89 x 56 cm / 35 x 22 in.

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F RIDAY, N OVEMBER 19 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 73 x 50 cm / 29 x 20 in.

S AN F RANCISCO C HRONICLE , I 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 38 x 55 cm / 15 x 22 in.

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NY 7657 2002 watercolor 76 x 57 cm / 30 x 22 in.

NY G REEN B LUE , II 2003 watercolor 50 x 31 cm / 20 x 12 in.

X-ING 2010 mixed media, photograph on canvas 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

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C ITY W IDE 2011 mixed media on photograph 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

J UST DANCE 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 104 x 78 cm / 41 x 31 in.

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MOK 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

A PASSIONATE WORLD 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 130 x 89 cm / 51 x 35 in.

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LEFT :

K ICK 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 95 x 77 cm / 37 x 30 in.

OPPOSITE

P HOTOGRAPHERS WANTED 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 132 x 114 cm / 52 x 45 in.

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NO

PHOTOS ,

NO

VIDEOS

2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 60 x 73 cm / 24 x 29 in.

S EX SC ANDAL 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 116 x 73 cm / 46 x 29 in.

T HE

LEFT :

RED LADDER

2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 122 x 30 cm / 48 x 12 in.

RIGHT : V ILLAGE E AST 2009 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 130 x 68 cm / 51 x 27 in.

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A ERIAL R EFLECTION 2010 watercolor 57 x 40 cm / 22 x 16 in

NY A ERIAL R EFLECTION , II 2010 watercolor 62 x 50 cm / 25 x 20 in.

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24 HRS 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

Q UEENS M IDTOWN T UNNEL 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on canvas 187 x 124 cm / 74 x 49 in.

RIGHT :

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S TART AT $.20 2010 mixed media, photograph collage on wood 82 x 39 cm / 32 x 15 in.

FAR RIGHT :

NY TO H OBOKEN 2010 mixed media, photograph on canvas 128 x 40 cm / 50 x 16 in.

OPPOSITE :

N EAR H ONEYWELL B RIDGE 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 137 x 130 cm / 54 x 51 in.

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V IENNA : R ESTMÛLL 2009 mixed media, photograph, collage on canvas 57 x 178 cm / 22 x 70 in.

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T he ar tis t at work in his studio.

J. H ARVEY 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 114 x 47 cm / 45 x 19 in.

PARKING FOR E MPLOYEES O NLY 2010 mixed media on photograph 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

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L ES B RUYERES 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 83 x 123 cm / 33 x 48 in.

S HIRT & M ORE 2008 mixed media, photograph on canvas 110 x 55cm / 43 x 22 in.

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RIGHT :

S TAIRS (B ROADWAY ) 2009 mixed media, photograph on canvas 101 x 76 cm / 40 x 30 in OPPOSITE :

WARNIN 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 80 x 80 cm / 31 x 31 in.

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N O D UMPING 2011 mixed media, photograph on wood 73 x 92 cm / 29 x 36 in.

W INNER 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 83 x 110 cm / 33 x 43 in.

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R EFLECTION 7550 2009 mixed media on photograph 75 x 51cm / 30 x 20 in.

AMAR (L ES B EATLES ) 2010 mixed media, photograph on canvas 54 x 81 cm / 21 x 32 in.

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RIGHT :

This Movie is to Feel 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 94 x 73 cm / 37 x 29 in.

OPPOSITE :

SF FOR LEASE 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on canvas 132 x 114 cm / 52 x 45 in.

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ABOVE : B OURGES : T HE C ATHEDRAL ' S R OOF, I 2009 watercolor 59 x 75 cm / 23 x 30 in.

OPPOSITE : B ELEVEDERE 2007 watercolor 57 x 47 cm / 22 x 19 in.

V IENNA , S TAIRS

FROM THE

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NY 5676 2011 watercolor 57 x 77 cm / 22 x 30 in.

M USIC 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on canvas 92 x 78 cm / 36 x 31 in.

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M ANHATTAN O NLY 2009 mixed media on photograph 72 x 46cm / 28 x 18 in.

F ROM H ONEYWELL B RIDGE , I 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 89 x 130 cm / 35 x 51 in.

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SF B LUE TOUCH 2010 mixed media on photograph 75 x 51 cm / 30 x 20 in.

NY A ERIAL R EFLECTION , III 2010 watercolor 58 x 39 cm / 23 x 15 in.

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RIGHT :

Y ELLOW N EW YORK 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 81 x 54 cm / 32 x 21 in.

OPPOSITE :

O VER M ANHATTAN 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 60 x 60 cm / 24 x 24 in

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C ATHEDRALE

B OURGES 2009 watercolor 47 x 61 cm / 19 x 24 in DE

NY G REEN B LUE , I 2003 watercolor 63 x 50 cm / 25 x 20 in.

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T HE B LACK WALL 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 65 x 92 cm / 26 x 36 in.

L IKE A R EFLECTION 2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 92 x 65 cm / 36 x 26 in.

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L AU C O. 2010 mixed media on photograph 76 x 51 cm / 30 x 20 in.

NO 2011 mixed media, photograph, collage on wood 92 x 73 cm / 36 x 29 in.

GOTTFRIED SALZMANN Museum Solo Exhibitions 2012 2006

2003 2001- 02 1998 1996 1993 1991 1987 1982 1973

Kubinhaus Zwickledt Museum, Wernstein Inn, Austria Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum, Salzburg, Austria, opening of the G. Salzmann permanent room Salzburg Museum, Salzburg, Austria Musée de St. Maur, La Varenne, France Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France Centre d'Art Contemporain, Rouen, France (with Nicole Bottet) Musée de la Seita, Paris, France Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria Metropolitan Museum, Manila, Philippines Museum of Modern Art Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria Städtische Sammlungen Schweinfurt, Germany Albertina Museum,Vienna, Austria Maison de la Culture, Amiens, France

Museum Group Exhibitions 64

2010 2009 2008 - 09 2008 2007

Schömer Haus-Museum Essl, Klosterneuburg,Vienna, Austria, The Beginning of a Collection Lentos Art Museum, Best of Austria, Linz, Austria Salzburg Museum, Neue Residenz, The City of Salzburg - Views from Five Centuries, Salzburg, Austria L’Espace Raymond Moretti, Paris, France Embassy of Austria, Washington D.C., United States, One Man’s Tribute to September 11th

Honors

The Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, awarded by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.

2011

Public Collections

NY R OSE 2008 Etching 82 x 63 cm / 32 x 25 in.

Sammlung Leopold,Vienna, Austria Musée de Montbeliard, Montbeliard, France Strabag SE Kunstforum,Vienna, Austria Albertina Museum,Vienna, Austria Modernes Museum Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria Oberösterreichisches Landes Museum, Linz, Austria Museum Essl, Kunst de Gegenwart, Klosterneuburg - Vienna, Austria Musée de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, Paris, France Museum Seoul, Seoul, Korea Museum Jenisch Vévey, Switzerland Kunstmuseum, Liechtenstein Metropolitan Museum, Manila, Philippines Batliner Collection, Liechtenstein SL Green Realty Corporation, New York, New York AIG / American International Group, Inc, New York, New York Bain Capital Asia, LLC, Hong Kong

Gottfried Salzmann has a prestigious exhibition history of more than 40 years and has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions and art fairs internationally. ( A c o m p l e t e c u r r i c u l u m v i t a e c a n b e fo u n d o n l i n e a t f ra n k l i n b ow l e s g a l l e r y. c o m )

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INDEX 24 HRS Aerial Reflection AMAR (Les Beatles) The Black Wall Bourges: The Cathedral's Roof, I Cathedrale de Bourges City Wide Friday, November 19 From Honeywell Bridge, I Green Street The half ladder J. Harvey Just Dance Kick Lau Co. Les Bruyeres Like a Reflection Manhattan Only MOK Music Near Honeywell Bridge No No Dumping No photos, No videos NY 5676 NY 7657 NY Aerial Reflection, II NY Aerial Reflection, III NY Green Blue, I NY Green Blue, II LEFT :

T HE

NY Rose NY Square NY to Hoboken Over Manhattan Parking for Employees Only A Passionate World Photographers Wanted Police Line Prince Street Queens Midtown Tunnel The red ladder Reflection 7550 San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle, I Sex scandal SF Blue Touch SF for lease SF Green Wall Shir t & More Stairs (Broadway) Star t at $.20 Subway Stairs This Movie is to Feel Vienna, Stairs from the Belevedere Vienna: Restm没ll Village East Warnin Winner X-ING Yellow New York

64 2 31 56 37 19 21 67 10 29 24 44 6 13 23 54 46 9 39 41 31 11 47 49 32-34 24-25 40 43 15 57

2011 mixed media, photograph on canvas 105 x 22 cm / 41 x 9 in.

P OLICE L INE 2010 mixed media, photograph, collage on canvas 80 x 80 cm / 31 x 31 in.

COVER : G REEN S TREET 2010 mixed media on photograph 75 x 51 cm / 30 x 20 in.

OPPOSITE : BACK

28 26 45 60 48 58 16 12 53 Back cover 66 36 17 20 62 38 61 52 18 51 30 63 42 22 50 14 27 55 59 14

HALF LADDER

SPRING 2012

CATALOG DESIGN :

PROJECT MANAGERS :

D. Lee Myers /

Stacey Bellis & Matt Geary Jean-Louis Losi

PHOTOGRAPHY :

431 West Broadway New York NY 10012 2 1 2 . 2 2 6 . 1 61 6 8 0 0 . 9 2 6 . 9 53 7 f r an k lin b o w le s g a l l e r y. c o m

FRANKLIN BOWLES GALLERIES

765 / 799 Beach Street San Francisco CA 94109 415.441.8008 800.926.9535

GOTTFRIED SALZMANN: ORCHESTRATING THE ACCIDENTAL

F RA NK LI N B OW L E S G AL L E RI ES

GOTTFRIED

SALZMANN