About Trees

Peter Fischer and his team have gathered about 100 works for the exhibition and the volume ABOUT TREES. Be it the huge rags stumps by Berlinde De Bruyckere, shimmering waxen and wrapped in giant rags, or the oil painting of a sparse forest with fragments of a Corbusier building in the background by Peter Doig; the mighty, upside-down black-and-white photograph of an oak tree by Rodney Graham or the picture of a detonated fruit tree by Michael Sailstorfer: these works of art always depict the tree as a diversely interpretable motif. In particular, it is about how the subject tree in a symbolic way »may raise fundamental questions of existence«. Art, in contrast to natural sciences and religion, has an advantage as it only has to raise questions, not give answers. Thus, it can reveal the tree as »a symbol, mirror and object of projection«, demonstrate how it represents life and/or death. Trees, however, are also suitable as a theme for »clashes and inspirations«, since it is lends itself to trace the story of human relationship with nature in an exemplary way, while, at the same time, pointing out that the dichotomy between nature and culture need not necessarily lead to destruction. Artists: Carlos Amorales, Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Mark Dion, Peter Doig, Valérie Favre, Wiliam Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Paul Klee, Ana Mendieta, Shirin Neshat, Pipilotti Rist, Wolfgang Tillmans, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto a.o.