DASMAXIMUM in Traunreut
DASMAXIMUM shows five German and four American artists who have shaped art in a decisive way since the 1960s until today. They are among the closest companions of Heiner Friedrich, who, since his beginnings as a gallery owner in Munich, Cologne and New York, has made the realisation of permanent presentations of contemporary art his leitmotif.
For DASMAXIMUM, a building complex previously used for industrial purposes was converted into a daylight museum on an area of more than 4300m² in the city centre. In the spacious halls, works by Georg Baselitz and Uwe Lausen from various phases of their work provide an overview of their entire oeuvre, while large-format series by Imi Knoebel and Maria Zerres create places of concentration.
A special focus is on the rich collection of works by American artists. For example, there are more than 20 paintings by Andy Warhol, separate halls each for the sculptures by John Chamberlain and Walter De Maria, and the light installation of all "European Couples" by Dan Flavin, which demonstrates the intensive connection between American and German art since the 1960s.
Heiner Friedrich, born in Stettin in 1938, grew up in Berlin and Upper Bavaria and studied philosophy in Munich.
Together with his first wife Six Friedrich and his companion Franz Dahlem, he opened the gallery Friedrich & Dahlem in 1963.
He was one of the first gallery owners ever to show works by German artists Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Imi Knoebel, Uwe Lausen, Blinky Palermo, Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter. Due to his early and close contacts with the American avant-garde, he exhibited artists such as John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Walter de Maria, Barnett Newman, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol, in some cases for the first time in Europe, thus making visible the parallel awakening in American and German art of the time.
As co-founder of the Dia Art Foundation in 1974, he initiated numerous projects such as Walter De Maria's "Lightning Field" in New Mexico in 1977, the "Vertical Earth Kilometre" in Kassel in 1977 and the "New York Earth Room" in 1979, the Dan Flavin Institute in Bridgehampton in 1983, Joseph Beuys' "7000 Oaks" from 1982 in Kassel and, in addition, from 1988 in New York, Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation in Marfa 1987, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh 1994, the Cy Twombly Gallery in Houston 1995 and the Dia: Beacon 2003 - with a good 30. 000 m² of exhibition space, it is one of the world's largest museums of contemporary art.
With the Ayn Foundation 1990, Friedrich made possible, among other things, the Arnulf Rainer Museum in New York 1993-1995, the presentation of extensive series of works by Maria Zerres in New York and Marfa, and the permanent exhibition of Andy Warhol's "Last Supper" cycle in New York and Marfa. Last but not least, with the DASMAXIMUM Foundation in Traunreut, he sets another striking example against a fast-moving event culture and for a lasting and intensive encounter with the art present.