Jørgen Buch

In the organizer's words:

Black & White

Although a significant part of the artistic oeuvre of Jørgen Buch (1943-2021) is in the holdings of the Kunsthalle Rostock, he is currently one of the lesser-known positions in the collection. Buch was part of a progressive and politically left-wing circle in downtown Copenhagen and sympathized with the social system of the former GDR. Between 1969 and 1985, he was represented at a total of eight biennials in the Baltic Sea countries, Norway and Iceland in Rostock and already had a solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Rostock as a young artist. He studied in Copenhagen in the politically turbulent 1960s and 1970s, at a time when a wide variety of artistic movements existed there. Presumably recommended by Rostock and his studies in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Buch studied at the art academy in Berlin-Weißensee from 1975 to 1976.

His oeuvre focuses on political and socially critical works that are characterized by a realistic painting style. His central works include the painting "Black and White", in which he denounces American racism, and the series of works about the military coup against the democratically elected Marxist-socialist president Salvador Allende. In "Little Boy", a major work of the 1980s, Buch depicts the US atomic bomb, which was cynically given the code name "Little Boy". It was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and killed over 90,000 people through radioactive radiation. The artist took up this theme because the NATO countries were debating the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent against the Soviet Union.
Jørgen Buch saw himself as a contemporary witness, intervening in contemporary problems and reflecting on them artistically.

The Kunsthalle Rostock would like to take a more differentiated look at Jørgen Buch's life and work from different perspectives and from a contemporary point of view, but also critically question it. With works from over six decades, primarily paintings, as well as various documents, the exhibition provides an insight into his multifaceted oeuvre. His oeuvre shows contrasts, many of his works raise questions and stimulate discussion - not least evoking associations with current issues that require discussion.

Almost all of the works that the artist presented at the Biennale of the Baltic Sea Countries or in his personal exhibition at the Kunsthalle Rostock can be seen here again - but in a different way. Under the title "A Danish artist in the GDR", his relationship to Denmark's former socialist neighbor will be explained and his world view questioned. Jørgen Buch's personal file from the 1970s from the Ministry of State Security in the GDR provides information about his views, but also raises new questions.
The portraits, nudes, still lifes and landscapes presented in the adjoining room form a contrast. They illustrate, among other things, Buch's multifaceted approach to the creative means of painting. Last but not least, works created after 1990 convey the themes Buch devoted himself to after the reunification of Germany and the end of the Soviet Union and the approach he chose. The exhibition concludes with a room that presents very personal works by the artist - his former wife Evelyn Mittmann and his daughters Signe and Sara. It is about life as an artist couple, as a model. Works by the painter Evelyn Mittmann are also shown in this context.

The show "Jørgen Buch - Black & White" marks the beginning of a research project with the aim of scientifically investigating and presenting Northern and Eastern European positions from the collection. The project is aimed at promoting cultural exchange and networking in the Baltic Sea region. An exhibition catalog with an excursus on further Danish positions from the collection is expected to be published in November/December 2024.