Item #54184 [CONCEPTUAL ART – CONCRETE POETRY – FLUXUS] Convolute of typewritten and handwritten correspondence to the important German art historian and curator Wulf Herzogenrath. Timm Ulrichs.

Ulrichs, Timm.

[CONCEPTUAL ART – CONCRETE POETRY – FLUXUS] Convolute of typewritten and handwritten correspondence to the important German art historian and curator Wulf Herzogenrath.

Ulrichs. I) A three-page typewritten letter with mounted pictures, handwritten annotations, and a handwritten signature, as well as a half-page typewritten letter with handwritten signature. Hannover, 12. 02. 1980 and presumably 02. 1980. DIN A4 (29.6 × 21 cm) and DIN A5 (14.8 × 21 cm). – II) Handwritten letter on glassine paper with handwritten signature. Without place and date. DIN A4 (29.6 × 21 cm). – III) Printed document: "Diese Urkunde bestätigt die Freundschaft des berühmten Totalkünstler Timm Ulrichs mit ..." (This document confirms the friendship of the famous total artist Timm Ulrichs with...) with handwritten addition "Wulf Herzogenrath" as well as handwritten signature and date, 19.10.1975. – IV) Four handwritten envelopes in different sizes (11.4 × 16 to 30 × 21.5 cm) with the artist's dedication to Wulf Herzogenrath. Very good. Item #54184

The correspondence, especially the detailed three-page, densely written typewritten letter, revolves around Ulrichs' participation in the exhibition "Monumente-Denkmal", which Wulf Herzogenrath was responsible for as director of the Cologne Kunstverein in 1980. Ulrichs was one of the main contributors, alongside Robert Filliou, Ed Kienholz, Claes Oldenburg, Nam June Paik, Gerhard Richter, and Dieter Roth. In this letter, Ulrichs expands extensively on his thoughts about the idea of the exhibition and makes numerous suggestions, some of them illustrated, which ultimately became decisive for Herzogenrath's concept. Ulrichs first associates some objects and photographs from his archive, describes macabre, ironic anecdotes about the Hermann Monument, but then writes extensively about his own gravestone, which reads, "Always remember to forget me" (Denken Sie immer daran, mich zu vergessen). Gravestones and epitaphs ultimately became the leitmotif for the exhibition. On the occasion of the exhibition, Herzogenrath wrote in the German art magazine "Kunstforum": "Who puts up a gravestone that raises strange questions for viewers? This gave rise to the initial impulse for this exhibition – how is it that Ed Kienholz and Claes Oldenburg design each other's gravestones and yet the form, the manner and the way in which they do so seem peculiar? Why on earth does poor Timm Ulrichs even have to sell his own gravestone (...), or why does Salvo tell us via a marble plaque and golden letters that he is the best? Why does James Lee Byars, who otherwise pays so much attention to sparing gestures of nothingness and perfection, roll a large, round stone through Amsterdam and then through Bern and choose this worn, bumped, no longer perfectly rounded sphere as his perfect epitaph for his own grave?" (Translated from: Kunstforum, vol. 37, 1980, pp. 159–191).