Odes to Common Things / Oda a las cosas

Galería Arnés y Röpke is pleased to present “Odes to Common Things”, a group show inspired by the poems of legendary writer Pablo Neruda, on view from March 18 through May 7, 2009.

A visit to the home of Pablo Neruda in Valparaiso, Chile tickles the senses, inspires adventure, and reveals the simple greatness of the man who lived there. Many of us have read his famous poem, “Ode to Common Things” and have fallen in love with his sensitive soul; how he could find beauty in the simplest things, relive a memory from a texture, and see the hand and celebrate the man who created these objects. And as one walks into his home overlooking the endless Pacific Ocean, the poem comes to life as one is surrounded, and truly engulfed by “things”.

There is no rhyme or reason to the collection of objects in this house. There is no focus on a particular period or material, and there is no hierarchy in their placement. In one corner hangs a taxidermy bird as if it had just flown into the living room, and along a wall in the study is an old porcelain sink impossibly placed for use and obviously positioned so one can enjoy its beauty. The shelves have objects upon objects and the walls are full as well. Some look precious but many do not, but all look lovingly placed and given a position of honor. This was a man who loved his things not as trophies to his own greatness, but for the stories they tell, the memories they hold, and a way to touch the human hand each one of those things had come from.

The group exhibition will bring together a diverse group of artists from different backgrounds and practicing different disciplines, with works that are their own “odes” turning Galeria Arnes y Ropke into a treasure trove of “common things”.

Jordi Alcaraz, Miquel Barceló, Joseph Beuys, Alexandar Duravcevic, Rebecca Horn, Michael Kippenberger, Isa Lorenzo, Artemis Louis, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cveto Marsic, Greg-Allen Müller, Juan Muñoz, Sigmar Polke, Robin Rhode, Ed Ruscha, Jessica Stockholder, Antoni Tàpies, Günther Uecker and Tom Wesselmann

Odes to Common Things / Oda a las cosas

Künstler: Jordi Alcaraz, Miquel Barcelo, Joseph Beuys, Aleksandar Duravcevic, Rebecca Horn, Martin Kippenberger, Isa Lorenzo, Artemis Louis, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cveto Marsic, Greg-Allen Müller, Juan Muñoz, Sigmar Polke, Robin Rhode, Ed Ruscha, Jessica Stockholder, Antoni Tàpies, Günther Uecker, Tom Wesselmann