P.S.1 is proud to present German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann's (b. 1941) 100 Years(2001), a monumental series of 101 photographic portraits of people aged 8 months to 100 years old. Comprised of images of the artist's family members, friends, and acquaintances, the series draws out a chronology of human life within which viewers can situate themselves, glimpsing past, present, and future. 100 Years, building on Feldmann's interest in the concept of the archive, foregrounds both individual and collective memories and imaginations, functioning as the artist's personal database as well as an accessible exploration of the cycle of life.
Feldmann entered the art world in the late 1960s when he began to construct and exhibit editions of small booklets containing found images such as postcards, magazine clippings, and posters. These images constituted part of Feldmann's massive "picture archive," an assortment of images categorized according to the artist's own system. In the event that a part of the archive was incomplete (an image was missing), Feldmann would capture this image via his own photography. Using image reproduction, photography or otherwise, as a means to illuminate the mysteries of daily life, he consistently gives credence to under-recognized art forms such as the photo album, never underestimating the power of the most "common" aesthetic strategies.
Hans-Peter Feldmann lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. He has had numerous solo exhibitions since the early 1970s, including various shows at Galerie Paul Maenz in Cologne, Germany; Galleria Sperone in Turin, Italy; and Kunstraum Munchen, Munich, Germany. More recently he has shown at the Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York (1993), 303 Gallery, New York (1992, 1996, 2000), and Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (2003). His work also appeared in Documenta 5 and Documenta 6 in Kassel, Germany (1972, 1976); do it, curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist in Ritter Klagenfurt, Austria (1994); Big Brown Bag at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in New York, NY (2002); Utopia Station, curated by Molly Nesbit, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, and Rikrit Tiravanija at the 2003 Venice Biennale; and The Last Picture Show: Artists Using Photography, 1960-1982 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hans-Peter Feldmann: 100 Years is organized by P.S.1 Chief Curator Klaus Biesenbach.