31.05. – 26.07.2014


ARNOLD ODERMATT
KARAMBOLAGE
1948 – 1995
Unknown Works


The Galerie Springer Berlin exhibits previously unseen “Karambolagen” by Arnold Odermatt

The current exhibition at the Galerie Springer Berlin presents the previously unknown work of Arnold Odermatt from the “Karambolage” series. Since his spectacular first solo exhibition at the gallery in 2000, Arnold Odermatt has become one of the outstanding permanent fixtures of the programme at the Galerie Springer Berlin. This will be the sixth solo exhibition of Arnold Odermatt’s work at the Galerie Springer Berlin. The photographs on show, which have never before been exhibited, amaze with their quality and ingenuity, demonstrating the unmistakable mark of the artist in a unique way.

Silke Homann, Editor of the art magazine Monopol, described the work of Odermatt as „accurate compositions of metal, chrome, tyre marks, mountain ranges and clouds”. The Galerie Springer Berlin is pleased to welcome you to the exhibition. Arnold Odermatt, who celebrates his 89th birthday this month, will attend the opening. If you are interested in an interview, please register in good time.

The artist was born in 1925 in Oberdorf, in the Swiss Canton of Nidwalden. He attended the primary and secondary school in Stans and trained as a baker and confectioner. In 1948, Odermatt joined the police force and in 1990 retired with the rank of First Lieutenant, Head of the Traffic Police and Deputy Commander of the Nidwalden police. At the start of his term of service, he asked if he could photograph the numerous accidents that he attended as part of his work.

He developed the negatives at home and used the images to complete his accident reports. Once Odermatt’s photographs had proved to be useful in court, a dark room was set up for him in a small room at the police station. At the start of the 1990s, his son, the film maker Urs Odermatt, was researching for a film when he discovered decades of archived traffic accidents that had happened in the Canton of Nidwalden. Impressed by the quality of the work, he became the editor of all Arnold Odermatt’s books that have been published to date. The books “Karambolage”, “Im Dienst/On Duty” and “In Zivil/Off Duty” were published by Steidl. In 2001, Harald Szeemann exhibited a selection of 32 works by Odermatt at La Biennale in Venice.

Numerous international solo and group exhibitions followed, including solo exhibitions at The Art Institute of Chicago (2001), Centro Cultural Okendo in San Sebastian (2005) and La Cambre, Stasbourg (2012). The works of Arnold Odermatt currently form part of numerous international collections and are displayed at a number of international museums. The artist lives and works in Stans.