SWISS-BORN
CHRISTIAN MEGERT: A
CELEBRATED
MIRROR ARTIST
Christian Megert was born on Jan 6, 1936 in Bern, Switzerland.
Today Megert is a renowned Swiss sculptor, object, installation
and kinetic artist who is best known for his astonishing work with
mirrors. In search of artistic knowledge at its zenith, he continued
to attend Bern University of the Arts from 1952 to 1955.
Then from 1956 to 1960 he undertook several extensive study
trips to Berlin, Stockholm and Paris among others. Finally, he had
his first exhibition in Bern where he created monochrome mate-
rial and structural images as well as sculptures made of iron and
synthetic resin.
From 1960 onward, glass and mirrors were largely in use. In 1961,
he wrote his manifesto “A NEW SPACE” on the occasion of an
exhibition held at the gallery Kopcke in Copenhagen.
The manifesto plainly served to commemorate everything
spatially with the aid of art.
Megert was part of several exhibitions together with the group
ZERO, with whom he created a series of environmental and
kinetic objects. In 1962 he exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in
Amsterdam, in 1964 at the Swiss national exhibition called “EXPO”
in Lausanne, but also at Kunsthaus Zurich including
Linz and Graz.
In 1968 he was represented at the 4th documenta in Kassel along
with two of his mirror objects and a reflection. Megert covered
the floor and the ceiling with mirror squares in this room, creating
a vertical, continuous reflection. Because of the visual retraction
of the floor, the observer was apparently stretched monumentally
in height and on the ground.
The mirror is an industrially manufactured material that Megert
skillfully uses to break shapes, to change and ultimately to create
a new space. The construction of a dummy space with reflective
reflection is Megert’s specific technique for producing the ‘NEW
SPACE’ required in the 1961 manifesto. Megert examines reflec-
tions in all its facets and makes the material more dynamic by cut-
ting, collapsing, splintering, overcoating or glazing. In so doing, he
has brought glory to numerous galleries and museum exhibitions
with his contributions since 1959.
The list includes:
Gallery Kopcke in Copenhagen, Gallery 31, Gallery St-Luc in
Barcelona, Gallery A in Arnhem, Gallery Orez in The Hague (with
Gianni Colombo) Gallery D in Frankfurt, Gallery Knoell in Ba-
sel, Gallery Kasper in Lausanne, Gallery Aktuell, Galerie Swart in
Amsterdam, Galerie Toni Gerber in Bern, Galerie Reckermann in
Cologne, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, Galerie Lichter in
Frankfurt, Galerie Edith Wahlandt Gmund, Lucy Milton Gallery in
London, Galerie St. Johann in Saarbrucken, Galerie Lydia Megert
in Bern, Galerie Schoeller Düsseldorf, with Klaus Staudt at Galerie
am Lindenplatz,-Vaduz, Kunstverein Düsseldorf, Bonnefantenmu-
seum Maastricht, Museum of Modern Art at Cuxhaven, Städtisches
Museum Gelsenkirchen, Kunstmuseum at Bern, Museum of con-
crete art at Ingolstadt.
20 PAN Amsterdam
JAN SCHOONHOVEN (NL 1914-1994)
O.I. INK ON PAPER
1975W
DADAMAINO (IT. 1930-2004)
“VOLUME”
WATERCOLOR ON CANVAS
TONI COSTA (IT 1935 - 2013)
50 X 35 CM - 1960
PROVENANCE: PRIVATE COLLECTION ITALY
CERTIFICATE: 575/10, 15-12-2010
ARCHIVIO FLAMINIO GUALDONI
“DINAMICA VISUALE”
70 X 70 CM - 1965 - P.V.C.
SIGNED AND DATED BACK
JAN SCHOONHOVEN (NL (NL 1914-1994)
O.I. INK ON PAPER
1975
LUCIO FONTANA (AR.1899-IT, 1968) - “CONCETTOSPAZIALE”
35 X 50 CM - 1965 - SIGNED L. BELOW
PROVENANCE: STUDIO BIBLIOGRAFICO MARINI
MULTIPLE ORIGINALE, LITERATURE HARRY RUHÉ AND CAMILLO RIGO LUCIO
FONTANA GRAPHICS, MULTIPLES AND MORE 2006 PAGES 16 AND 17
PAN Amsterdam
21