Collages

Collecting and finding. Deconstructing and re-combining everyday materials. Paper in all its various manifestations. These are the essential elements of collage. An experimental and open approach allows art and reality to emerge and to be perceived from new perspectives.

Two years ago the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck accepted an extensive donation of nearly 400 collages from the collector Gerhard Meerwein of Mainz, Germany. The initial presentation entitled First Cutout offered an overview of the collection, demonstrated its thematic emphases and examined the collector's personality. The architect, interior designer and emeritus professor of "Colour in Space" at the Mainz University of Applied Sciences acquired the works over nearly four decades.

The exhibition Second Cutout sheds light on the relationship between Gerhard Meerwein and the individual artists, with an emphasis on works that demonstrate a geographical or personal proximity to the collector. The close affinity to Rhineland-Palatinate plays an important role here, as does the intensive exchange that took place over the years between the befriended artists and collector.

"A variety of friendships and intense acquaintanceships have resulted from direct purchases. In some cases over the course of the years I acquired a variety of works, so that different forms of expression from a single artist can be seen. Relationships with artists also resulted from purchases from galleries." Gerhard Meerwein

The relationship between artist and collector and different approaches to the medium of collage are reflected in the contemporary works of such artists as Gloria Brand (*1943), Sara Focke-Levin (*1963), Jürgen Möbius (*1939), Jürgen O. Olbrich (*1955) and Paul Stein (1949-2004) in various manners. Invitation cards, mail art and private correspondence as well as catalogues and other publications will be placed alongside works selected from the collection. These materials are taken from the Library Meerwein, which was assembled parallel to the collection and was also donated to the museum. These objects provide deeper insight into the overall work of the participating artists.