Peter von Tiesenhausen: Songs of Pythagoras

×

Expand

Peter von Tiesenhausen, "All Things Being Equal," 2018

found and made objects on wooden shelves (includes works by other artists and objects from private collectors, including Christine and Murray Quinn, and the artist; photo by Charles Cousins)

“This is really an excellent exhibition!” This one short sentence is repeated every time my thoughts turn to Songs of Pythagoras, Peter von Tiesenhausen’s impressive survey-style show at the Art Gallery of Alberta. On view in Edmonton until May 6, it excels not only because of the rich works on display, but also because of the way the show is installed. With only a few hiccups, I was taken through a darkened landscape of salvaged materials, rudimentary objects large and small, and videos with moody, dissonant sound.

The artist’s enormous effort is evident throughout. Axes are definitely a favourite instrument, as are hammers, rusty nails, a pair of metal cutters and battered sheets of plywood. There’s evidence too of the hot scorch of fire, making for a kind of a Sturm und Drang art practice involving the Germanic concept of blood, sweat and tears. Von Tiesenhausen is one of Alberta’s most physically engaged artists, an opportunity afforded by his commitment to working in often-distant places with minimal technology.

×

Expand

Peter von Tiesenhausen, "Ahnen," 2014,

steel tray, tar and spike (collection of the artist; photo by Charles Cousins)

Born in 1959, von Tiesenhausen seems to have absorbed some of the spirit behind late-18th century Romanticism, despite being a child of the Peace River country, where he still lives. This matter of heritage surfaces in Ahnen, a strange work attached with a single spike to the gallery wall. This ominous piece in tar, displayed as if it were a painting, may be an homage to Germany’s Anselm Kiefer, given von Tiesenhausen’s belief that his first language, German, shaped his understanding of the world.

The artist’s reckoning is rooted in place and in wonder, with a loyalty to nature, above all. His Romantic temperament is coupled with the ability to fashion art from what is found and acquired, altered and remade. A 2018 piece, Worrybeads, for instance, is fabricated from heavy plugs cut from the metal used for oil industry frac tanks, which store brine and other fluids. Coupled with the work’s title, it conveys a sense of anxiety as one enters the exhibition.

Sometimes, though, works seem to emerge quite harmoniously. Such is the display of 59 small objects placed on a lengthy wooden shelf. Like a long verse of poetry carried by the Peace River, All Things Being Equal (2018) includes contributions from collectors, as well as other artists, such as his sons. It speaks of community in a genuine way.

×

1 of 2

Expand

Peter von Tiesenhausen, "The Watchers," 1997-2002

five wooden figures, painting and video installation (collection of the artist; photo by Charles Cousins)

×

2 of 2

Expand

Peter von Tiesenhausen, "The Watchers," (detail) 1997-2002

five wooden figures, painting and video installation (collection of the artist; photo by Charles Cousins)

Prev

Next

If there is an overriding conceptual link in Songs of Pythagoras, it’s an environmental one, straight from a region in northwest Alberta that’s impacted by resource extraction. (The late environmental activist, Wiebo Ludwig, lived nearby.) But these creations are less about protest than about one individual’s response to his surroundings, with its uneasy blend of past and present. Near the exhibition exit, Walker (2006) expresses this ambivalence with an antique rawhide snowshoe strung up nicely in power-line cable, all shiny and new. ■