Werner Büttner

Plenty of Room for all Sorts of Happiness

May 24 — Jun 23, 2018
London

Marlborough is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by the leading German artist, Werner Büttner.

Plenty of Room for All Sorts of Happiness will be displayed on both floors of Marlborough's Mayfair gallery space. The exhibition will encompass new works made over the last two years together with a rich selection of paintings from the 1980s when Büttner first came to worldwide attention as part of a new generation of German artists.  Imbued with a dark humour, Büttner’s work has for nearly four decades pursued one essential underlying theme: the pursuit of lucidity as a tool for survival in a sordid world.

Until his previous show with Marlborough in 2015, Büttner had not had a major exhibition in London since his much lauded 1986 show at the ICA, London. For this reason, the works from 1981-1989 — now instantly recognizable as emblematic of their time — still seem as fresh as the new paintings that will be exhibited alongside them. Continuities as well as differences will be evident: Then and now, Büttner is above all an inventor of images, a painter always looking for new ways to convey a response to the world.

In 2013 Büttner was the subject of a major retrospective, Werner Büttner: Gemeine Wahrheiten (Common Truths), at ZKM, Karlsruhe, which travelled to the Weserburg Museum of Contemporary Art, Bremen in 2014. Hatje Cantz published a major monograph in conjunction with the exhibition. In 2016 Marlborough, in collaboration with Black Dog Publishing, issued the first substantial books on his practice in English rather than German: My Looting Eye and Coincidence in Splendour.

This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with an interview with Werner B üttner by Hans Ulrich Obrist and an essay by the American art critic and poet Barry Schwabsky.

Works

Werner büttner. plenty of room for all sorts of happiness installation view 7
Installation View.
Büttner, viel raum für allerlei glück (plenty of room for all sorts of happiness), 2017, oil on canvas, 95 x 75 in., 240 x 190 cm
Plenty of Room for All Sorts of Happiness (Viel Raum für allerlei Glück), 2017, oil on canvas, 94 1/2 × 75 in., 240 × 190.5 cm
Büttner, ein geschundener gaul (a flogged horse), 2016, oil on canvas, 75 × 59 in., 190 x 150 cm
A Flogged Horse (Ein geschundener Gaul), 2016, oil on canvas, 75 × 59 in., 190.5 × 149.9 cm
Werner büttner. plenty of room for all sorts of happiness installation view 10
Installation View.
Büttner, ein enttäuschter elève verlässt das haus von luxus, (disappointed pupil leaves the house of luxury), 1987, oil on canvas, 59 x 75 in., 150 x 190 cm
Disappointed Pupil Leaves the House of Luxury (Ein enttäuschter Elève verlässt das Haus von Luxus ), 1987, oil on canvas, 59 × 75 in., 149.9 × 190.5 cm
Büttner, sozialstaatimpressionen (welfare state impression), 1982, oil on canvas, 59 x 47 in., 150 x 120 cm
Welfare State Impressions (Sozialstaatimpressionen), 1982, oil on canvas, 59 × 47 in., 149.9 × 119.4 cm
Werner büttner. plenty of room for all sorts of happiness installation view 1
Installation View.
Werner büttner. plenty of room for all sorts of happiness installation view 14
Installation View.
Büttner, diesmal, made in germany (made in germany this time), 2016, oil on canvas, 59 x 75 in., 150 x 190 cm
‘Made in Germany’ this Time (Diesmal 'Made in Germany'), 2016, oil on canvas, 59 × 75 in., 149.9 × 190.5 cm
Büttner, badende russen (bathing russians), 1984, oil on canvas, diptych, 75 x 189 in., 190 x 480 cm
Bathing Russians (Badende Russen), 1984, oil on canvas, 75 × 189 in., 190.5 × 480.1 cm

Press

Büttner, thank you france (for monsieur monet and lascaux cave) (danke frankreich (für monsieur monet und höhle lascaux), 2017, oil on canvas, 59 × 47 1 4 in., 150 cm × 120 cm
Plenty of room for all sorts of happiness werner buttner modern painters marlborough
Werner buttner plenty of room for all sorts of happiness timeout london marlborough
Werner büttner. plenty of room for all sorts of happiness installation view 12
Weekend cheat sheet plenty of room for all sorts of happiness werner buttner surface mag marlborough
Buettner portrait 2018 web
Büttner, viel raum für allerlei glück (plenty of room for all sorts of happiness), 2017, oil on canvas, 95 x 75 in., 240 x 190 cm