DARBOVEN, HANNE
1941 Munich - 2009 Rönneburg

Title: Konstruktionen.
Subtitle: 54 parts.
Date: 1968.
Technique: Each: India ink on squared paper .
Measurement: 21 x 28cm.
Notation: One sheet monogrammed , dated and inscribed in the centre: h.d. 1968 NYC.
Frame/Pedestal: Each: framed.


We thank the Hanne Darboven Stiftung, Hamburg for their kind support.

Provenance:
- Kasper König Collection, Berlin (directly from artist)

"Following her studies at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg from 1962 to 1965, Hanne Darboven was advised by her teacher Almir Mavignier to go to New York, where she stayed from 1966 to 1968. After arriving in the city, she soon met artists in the Minimalism and nascent Conceptual Art scenes, Becoming friends with Sol LeWitt and Carl Andre.

Darboven began making geometric drawings and diagrams on graph paper, which vary through her use of repetition and sequence, asymmetry and inversion, reflection and rotation. She called these drawings Konstruktionen (Constructions), a term she introduced as a synonym for concept in the context of American Conceptual Art. Darboven frequently commented that she had worked at deconstructing the traditional concept of an artwork as a constructivist.

As a structuring device, Darboven wrote roman numerals in pencil down the side of her geometric drawings. Along the bottom, she added a series of numbers that seems to explain how each construction is formulated; however, the system refuses to disclose the way it functions and is ultimately undecipherable. In a letter from 1967, Darboven admitted that "in the final analysis, it is certainly impossible to reveal it. Ultimately, it always remains obscure-even for me."

The Konstruktionen mark the beginning of Darboven's lifelong activity of interweaving writing and counting. "At some point I started writing these constructions out in numbers, at face value. I ultimately arrived at the dates because you have to deal with the meaning or absurdity of things every day."

Darboven first presented her Konstruktionen in 1967 at Galerie Konrad Fischer in Düsseldorf. Kasper König, who had moved to New York in 1965, was instrumental in initiating the exhibition. From his base in New York, he worked with Konrad Fischer, scouting for interesting artists and recommending them to the gallery.
König was introduced to Darboven, "the German girl," by LeWitt in 1967. He was impressed by her work and strongly recommended it to Fischer, who eventually organized a double exhibition with Darboven and Charlotte Posenenske. This violated their agreement to present only solo shows at the gallery, and König protested in a telegram. Fischer telegraphed back with the chauvinist comment: "Two-woman show as good as one-man show"

(Exhib. Cat. 1000... miles to the edge. Donation Kasper König. Museum Ludwig Cologne, 11th November 2023 - 17th March 2024).