GIVEN – Reuterswärd Fahlström Duchamp Cat. Sprengel Museum Hanover

Öyvind Fahlström and Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd—his work is prominently represented in the collection of the Sprengel Museum Hannover through a generous donation by the artist—belonged to a circle within the Swedish art scene of the 1950s and 60s that was united in its veneration of Marcel Duchamp and an enthusiasm for his work, yet also in its fierce rejection of Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition, and especially the book GEGEBEN SIND, brings together the works of these three very different artists, revealing numerous connecting lines between their works, and gradually, in their concepts and games, in their wordplay and irony, one realizes what these artists have in common. Among Reuterswärd's best-known works is the sculpture "Non Violence," the revolver with the knotted barrel placed in front of the New York headquarters of the UN, which has become a symbol, as it were, of the that institution's seemingly almost impossible task of preserving peace. The sculpture, which has been installed at sixteen other locations around the world, was Carl Frederik Reuterswärd's response to the assassination of John Lennon.

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) is one of the most important artistic personalities of the 20th century. His influence on the development of the arts continues to this day. As one of the founders of Dadaism and Surrealism, he stands for the development of modernism before and after the Second World War. Carl Frederik Reuterswärd (1934-2016) was a Swedish painter and sculptor. Probably his best known work is the sculpture of a revolver with knotted barrel under the title “Non Violence”. He was inspired to this idea by the death of his friend John Lennon. Today, the sculpture can be found in 16 places, the most prominent being in front of the UN headquarters in New York. Övind FahlstrÖm (1928-1976) was a Swedish painter, shown several times at documenta (4: 1968, 6: 1977, X: 1997) and at the 1966 Biennale di Venezia. In his work, FahlstrÖm experimented with movable parts that could be shifted across the entire surface of the painting. In his collages and installations, he assembled image and text elements from comics, the mass media, and hard political facts.

Teddy Hultberg: Övyind FahlstrÖm & Carl Frederik Reuterswärd: Two Character Figures in the Open Landscape Thomas Millroth: Measure Inc. – On Measuring Norbert Nobis: Who is Nobody Here? Jesper Olsson: In the Beginning there was Theft: Carl Frederik Reuterswärd and the Poetics of Appropriation Carina Plath: Given – Reuterswärd FahlstrÖm Duchamp – the exhibition Paula Schwerdtfeger: Critical Diagrams – Economy and Art in the work of Reuterswärd, FahlstrÖm and Duchamp