Franz Immoos (born 9 November 1948) is a Swiss-Dutch object installation artist and photographer. He was born in Menziken.
Art education Franz Immoos studied from 1972 to 1975 at the Fachklasse für Gestaltung at Kunstgewerbeschule Basel with the Swiss painter Franz Fedier. Then he spent time in Paris from 1976 to 1977 in a studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts, an artist residence and from 1978 to 1979 he attended the Visual Communication course at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, where Immoos lives and works since 1977.
Work Immoos' artistic work offers object art, installations, photographic works, artists' books as well as theoretical treatises on colour and space.
Illusion objects, surfaces in space
The illusion objects are made of steel profiles or graphite plates. They are minimalist markings in space; illusions of geometric bodies such as cubes, elongated blocks, pyramids, etc. The figures are related to a 'fixed viewpoint' in space. This can be recognised by the fact that the figures transform into familiar bodies such as cubes, blocks, pyramids, etc. Upon releasing this 'fixed viewpoint', the plastic illusion is lifted. An interaction with the viewer occurs, challenging familiar habits of seeing.
Installations of these works were on show in:
1976 Gallery Stampa Basel, Switzerland 1979 Hester van Royen Gallery, London, United Kingdom 1979 / 1981 Gallery Lydia Megert, Bern, Switzerland 1980 Gallery Nouvelles Images, The Hague. Netherlands 1979 / 1980 Museum Fodor, Amsterdam. Netherlands 1987 Gallery Gruppe Grün, Bremen, Germany 1989 Gallery Schöller, Düsseldorf, Germany 1978- Collectie Nederland: Musea, Monumenten en Archeologie, Amersfoort, Netherlands
Colour objects, symbolic colours, installation (art)
Immoos developed his collection of artworks 'Symbolic Colours' in the tradition of a 'mathematical aesthetic' of the constructive and geometric tendencies of 20th-century art. As a Dutch and Swiss artist, he is indebted to the founders of the Dutch art movement De Stijl, such as Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, as well as to the virulent systematic investigations of colour by Swiss artists Max Bill and Richard Paul Lohse and the light kinetics of Hungarian-French painter and graphic artist Victor Vasarely – to name a few post-1945 movements. The fundamental difference with these predecessors is the symbolism Immoos envisaged in his colour fields. In almost all directions of concrete art of this century, which began with the black square of Russia's Kazimir Malevich, the referential function of colour is rejected. Colour is concrete; it has no pictorial or symbolic meaning. Immoos rejects this unquestioned credo. In a unique way, he connects the usual concrete use of colour in this century with its millennia-old task in religious cult.Dr. Hans Joachim Manske, Direktor der Städtischen Galerie im Buntentor Bremen Katalog: "Privatgrün-Stadtgrün", 1997.
These installations were exhibited in:
1983 "Materialisation" Triptychon, Kampnagel Fabrik, Hamburg, Germany 1991 "Farbtransformation" and "Die neun Bilder", Gallery Künstlerhaus am Deich, Bremen, Germany 1992 "Die gelbe Halle", Gallery Maria Chailloux, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1993 "Die fünf Wandlungen", Raum 1, Düsseldorf, Germany 1994 "Farbtransformation 69", I.C.C.D., Trivandrum Kerala, India 1995 "Cosmic 69", Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1997 "Symbolfarben", Privatgrün-Stadtgrün, Projekt, Bremen, Germany 1997 "Om", Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India
Photography (art)
In art photography, the medium of photography is used as a means of expression. In general, a photograph in art photography can also be called a work of art and should be understood as fine art. With such a definition, photographs are not faithful reproductions. In art photography, corrections can also be made to the image in the laboratory or on the computer, and there are no limits to the artist's creativity. The justification for photography as an art form was aptly given by Swedish art collector and museum director Pontus Hultén: "Photography is easy. But photography is a very difficult art."
What a person thinks and feels is captured in signs, symbols, images and photographs:
"Symbols come from our imagination; they transcend the boundary between rational and irrational thinking; they connect the unknown with the conscious. Images can be perceived and interpreted quite banally; but they can also be connected to transpersonal archetypal content."Franz Immoos, Gedanken zu den Fotoarbeiten, 2006.
Photographic works were on display in the following exhibitions and collections:
1981 "Erweiterte Fotografie", 5. Foto-Biennale, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria 1983 "Diptychon – Triptychon", Museum Waterland, Purmerend, Netherlands 1984 "Umgang mit der Aura", Städtische Galerie, Regensburg, Germany 1985 "Schweizer-Fotografie". Die Sammlung der Gotthard Bank, Lugano, Zürich, Switzerland 1986 "Diptychon – Triptychon", Galerie Ton Peek, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1999 "Photo Paris“, Gallery Pennings, Eindhoven, Netherlands 2000 "Nature matters", Gallery Resy Muijsers, Tilburg, Netherlands 2005 "Anima-Natura", Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2011 "Kunstfrühling", Gruppe Grün, Bremen, Germany 2015 "Treffpunkt Worpswede", Heinrich Vogeler Museum Barkenhoff, Worpswede, Germany
Artist books
Artist books are stand-alone works of art that have usually made the book the subject of an artistic concept; in contemporary art, these concepts also transcend the boundaries of the book as an object.
"In photobooks (photocompressions), architectural fragments are phototechnically combined in transparent layers. Through old and new architectural elements and different perspectives, a new architectural structure is created. This irrational reality created by superimposing different architectural fragments in style and time is illusionary. A new, imaginary space is created that contradicts reality. On the one hand, this newly created space irritates rational thinking and, on the other, it certainly stimulates our imagination. The fragmentary randomness of these architectural ensembles is utopian and imaginary. Both the change and mixing of old and new architectural fragments create an untruthful image. The composition of unsuspected forms and altered perspectives result in unusual spatial dynamics. The depiction of the idea offers more than the image and suggests a new atmosphere. The atmospheric play of light and shadow, the staircase ending in nothingness, suggests allegorical, metaphorical content. The resulting fantasy construction forms analogies with dream images.Samenvatting van de tekst: Franz Immoos,"Pariser Foto-Skizzen", Fotocompressies, 2018.
The artist's books can be viewed online.
1982 "Imitations", Edition da Costa, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1984 "Water, Earth, Air", Edition da Costa, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1985 "Venus", Edition da Costa, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2018 "Pariser Foto-Skizzen". Fotokompressionen. 2020 "Architekturcollagen". Fotokompressionen. 2020 "Immanenz Transzendenz". Fotokompressionen. 2021 "Light Images and Idols". Fotokompressionen. 2021 "Sakraler Raum". Fotokompressionen. 2022 "Raum-Farbe-Licht". Fotokompressionen. 2022 "Graffiti Idole". Fotokompressionen.
Residences and cultural centres
1991 Gallery Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, Germany 1994 I.C.C.D. Trivandrum, Kerala, India 1995 Cultural centre Binz 39, Scuol-Nairs, Switzerland 1997 Sanskriti Kendra, Artist in Residence, New-Delhi, India 1999 Nairs – Centre for Contemporary Art, Scuol, Switzerland 2000 Kartause Ittingen, Warth-Weiningen, Switzerland 2000 Guest atelier Kaskadenkondensator, Basel, Switzerland 2001 Artists houses Worpswede, Worpswede, Germany 2002 Artists' Village Schöppingen, Schöppingen, Germany 2018 Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 2018 Nairs – Centre for Contemporary Art, Scuol, Switzerland 2022 Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
Works in collections
Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland Nederlandsche Rijkscollectie: "kleine plastieken", "ijzer", "foto's in combinatie", "stempelkunst" Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, Netherlands Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands Gotthard Bank, Lugano, Switzerland Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands Landesbibliothek des Kantons Glarus, Glarus, Switzerland Ospidal – Center da sandà Engiadina Bassa, Scuol, Switzerland Collectie Nederland: Musea, Monumenten en Archeologie, Amersfoort, Netherlands "Helveticat": Online-Katalog der Schweizerischen Nationalbibliothek, Bern, Switzerland
Grants
1974 Kiefer Hablitzelstipendium, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland 1976 Art grant of the city of Basel, Switzerland 1976 Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 1978 Stipend of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands 1979/81 Nederlandse Kunst Stipendia (CRM), The Hague, Netherlands 1997 Travel grant, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2001 Artists houses Worpswede, Residence and scholarship, Worpswede, Germany 2002 Artists' Village Schöppingen, Residence and scholarship, Schöppingen, Germany 2003 /04/05 Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Prijzen
1976 Sponsorship award of the city of Basel, Basel, Switzerland 1978 Incentive Award of the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (AFK), Amsterdam, Netherlands 1979 Tender: Percentageregeling voor beeldende kunstopdrachten, MEAO Aula, Helmond, Netherlands 1979 Amsterdam koopt Kunst, Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1980 Amsterdam koopt Kunst, Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1999 Tender: Ospidal – Center da sandà Engiadina Bassa, Scuol, Switzerland
Exhibitions Immoos' works have been shown in more than 25 solo exhibitions and more than 50 group exhibitions.
Solo exhibitions
1976 Gallery Stampa, Basel, Switzerland 1978 /81/82/88 Gallery Lydia Megert Bern, Bern, Switzerland 1978 Other books and so, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1979 Hester van Royen Gallery, London, United Kingdom 1980 Gallery Nouvelles Images, The Hague, Netherlands 1982 /85/88/94 Gallery Resy Muijsers, Tilburg, Netherlands 1983 85/89 Multi Art Points, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1986 Gallery Ton Peek Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1987 /94/01 Galerie Gruppe Grün, Bremen, West Germany/Germany 1989 Gallery Schöller, Düsseldorf, West Germany 1990 Stichting Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1991 Centrum Beeldende Kunst, Utrecht, Netherlands 1991 Gallery Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, Germany 1992 96 Gallery Maria Chailloux, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1993 Raum 1, Düsseldorf, Germany 1994 I.C.C.D. Trivandrum (Kerala), India 1994 Gallery Hubertus Wunschik, Düsseldorf, Germany 1995 Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1996 Museum Waterland, Purmerend, Netherlands 1997 Sanskriti Kendra, Anandagram, Delhi, India 1998 Stichting Beeldende Kunst, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1999 Pennings Foundation, Eindhoven, Netherlands 2003 Gallery Frontstore, Basel, Switzerland 2005 Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Group exhibitions
1981 5. Foto-Bienniale, "Erweiterte Fotografie", Vienna Secession, Vienna, Austria 1983 Kampnagel Fabrik, Hamburg, Germany 1983 Museum Waterland, Purmerend, Netherlands 1984 Städtische Galerie, Regensburg, Germany 1989 Arts Consultancy, Antwerpen, Belgium 1991 Gallery Künstlerhaus am Deich, Bremen, Germany 1993 Künstlerhaus Berlin, Haus am Lützowplatz (HAL), Berlin, Germany 1994 Gallery Schöller, Düsseldorf, Germany 1994 Große Kunstausstellung NRW, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany 1994 Westdeutscher Künstlerbund, Recklinghausen, Germany 1995 Gallery Cornelius Hertz, Bremen, Germany 1995 Fondazione Galleria Gottardo, Lugano, Switzerland 1995 Gallery Hubertus Wunschik, Düsseldorf, Germany 1995 Art Multiple, Kunstverlag Schuhmacher, Düsseldorf, Germany 1995 Art Kitchen Gallery with Steiger 8, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1996 De Annex, Amsterdam, Netherlands