Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr Selected for the Second BMW Art Journey. German Artist Duo to Visit Jamaica, China, North America, and Europe with Support from BMW and Art Basel.

Munich/Basel. BMW and Art Basel are delighted to
present video artists Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr (represented by
Galerie Max Mayer, Dusseldorf) as the winners of the second BMW Art
Journey. The international expert jury selected unanimously Fehr and
Rühr from a shortlist of three artists whose works were exhibited in
the Positions sector at Art Basel’s show in Miami Beach in December 2015.

Their project “The Art of Memory: Dub Music and the CCTV Tower”
is an extended investigation into the ever-growing interconnectedness
of contemporary life. The artists capture today’s global linkages
through the metaphor of the loop – both as a visual form and as a
system of cultural transmission and cross-pollination. Cologne-based
Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr will travel extensively to conduct
research, their two focal points of interest are Jamaican dub reggae
music and the iconic CCTV tower in Beijing. Seemingly unrelated, the
Beijing architectural landmark designed by Rem Koolhaas and the
Jamaican music style both follow a loop structure. Koolhaas has
patented the building as a “looped skyscraper”, breaking up the
conventional monolithic form into two and reconnecting the masses into
an irregular circle. Dub music is an electronic, looped form of
reggae. Jamaican musicians use synthesizers produced in the West
enabling a non-linear narrative structure, as opposed to earlier forms
of Jamaican reggae music.

Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr will contrast these two themes through
film, music and TV productions, seen as alternative forms of memory
and memory-creation. The artists will travel around Europe, the US and
Jamaica to interview dub musicians, follow them on tour and document
their studio work. In Beijing, the duo is planning to document the
architecture of the CCTV tower.

Combining different forms of travel – slow travel on a bus and fast
intercontinental plane rides – the artists will reflect on the notion
of the journey itself. As they stated in their proposal for the Art
Journey: “Just like dub music, travel is non-linear, unplannable, full
of wormholes, and in every regard psychedelic.”

 

Art Basel and BMW will collaborate with the artists to document the
journey and share it with a broader public through print publications,
online and social media.

 

The jury of international experts, which voted unanimously to select
Fehr and Rühr’s proposal, included Juan Gaitán,
Director Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico City;
Massimiliano Gioni, Artistic Director New Museum,
New York City; Gabriele Horn, Director KW Institute
for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Victoria Noorthoorn,
Director Museo de Arte Moderna, Buenos Aires; and Bisi
Silva
, Director Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos. 

In addition to Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr, the shortlisted artists
from the Positions sector for emerging artists at Art Basel in Miami
Beach included: Fritzia Irizar (represented by Arredondo Arozarena,
Mexico City) and Dan Bayles (represented by François Ghebaly Gallery,
Los Angeles).

 

In a joint statement, the jury said about their selection: “In their
previous works, Henning Fehr and Philip Rühr have demonstrated an
extraordinary ability to analyze and describe commercial and cultural
behaviors in a manner that combines criticism and a genuine,
passionate interest in their chosen subjects. Their juxtaposition of
music and TV production will allow them to explore connections between
contrasting yet related cultural phenomena. The jury was impressed by
the team’s ability to connect unexpected areas of research, such as
architecture, music, rhetoric, and the study of memory. Particularly
interesting was the way in which they described their plans to
alternate different modes of travel, working at different speeds and
refusing to simply accept the rhythms of tourism and of the globalized
leisure economy.”

 

The BMW Art Journey is a global collaboration between Art Basel and
BMW, which has been created to recognize and support emerging artists
worldwide. This unique award is open to artists who are exhibiting in
the Discoveries and Positions sectors in the Hong Kong and Miami Beach
shows of Art Basel, respectively. Two judging panels comprised of
internationally renowned experts meet first to select a shortlist of
three artists from the sector, who are invited to submit proposals for
a journey aimed to further develop their ideas and artistic work. The
jury reconvenes to select a winner from the three proposals.

 

The next round of selections for the BMW Art Journey will take place
during Art Basel in Hong Kong, where on March 23 the three shortlisted
artists from the Discoveries sector will be presented to the public,
at the BMW Lounge. The winner of the third Art Journey will be
announced in early summer 2016.

 

BMW is a global partner of Art Basel and has supported Art Basel’s
three shows in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong for many years.

 

For further information about the artists and the project, please visit:
www.bmw-art-journey.com

http://www.maxmayer.net/artist/henning-fehr-philipp-ruhr/

 

 For further questions please contact:

Dr. Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-24753

 

Internet: 
www.press.bmwgroup.com

Mail: presse@bmw.de

 

Dorothee Dines

Art Basel

Head of Media Relations

Telephone: + 41 58 206 27 06

Email: dorothee.dines@artbasel.com

 

About Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr

Henning Fehr (b.1985 in Erlangen, Germany) and Philipp Rühr (b. 1986
in Brühl, Germany) live and work in Cologne. The duo was awarded the
Förderpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen für junge Künstlerinnen und
Künstler in 2014 and received a studio scholarship from Kölnischer
Kunstverein and Imhoff Stiftung as well as a travel scholarship for
Istanbul from the Kunststiftung NRW. Their practice is rooted in a
shamanistic idea of cinema, in which the filmmaker is suspended
between active participation and passive reflection. At Art Basel in
Miami Beach 2015 the artists presented “Polyrhythm Technoir” (2015), a
three-part film that allegorizes the present state of electronic
music. Each of the work’s three sections is concerned with a different
topic – Polyrhythm, Phasing, and Synchronicity – each of which finds
its expression in the manner of its representation and presentation.

 

About Art Basel

Art Basel stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and
contemporary works, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong.
Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is
reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the
content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local
institutions for each edition. In addition to ambitious stands
featuring leading galleries from around the globe, each show’s
exhibition sectors spotlight the latest developments in the visual
arts, offering visitors new ideas and new inspiration. For further
information please visit artbasel.com

 

BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged
in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the
main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art,
jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972,
three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter
specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters.
Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur
Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko
have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous
architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to
design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW
Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its
world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative
freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted –
as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is
for major innovations in a successful business. 

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture
and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview 

 

The BMW Group

With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the
world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles
and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global
company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities
in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2015, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.247 million cars and
nearly 137,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the
financial year 2014 was approximately € 8.71 billion on revenues
amounting to € 80.40 billion. As of 31 December 2014, the BMW Group
had a workforce of 116,324 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

 

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