The world can only be lifted from the ruins by us.
WE ARE THE PAINTERS OF THE FUTURE!
Group SPUR, manifesto, 1958
Group SPUR, 1960, photograph taken by Christel Fischer (from left to right Lothar Fischer, Heimrad Prem, HP Zimmer, Helmut Sturm)
Almost 60 years ago, in 1957, the artist group SPUR was formed, which subsequently became one of the most influential artist collectives in post-war Germany. SPUR established a local tradition in Munich that was to last until the 1980s. The four SPUR protagonists – the sculptor Lothar Fischer (1933-2004), the painters Heimrad Prem (1934-1978), Helmut Sturm (1932-2008) and HP Zimmer (1936-1992) – triggered harsh reactions from the Bavarian state and judiciary with their controversial art-political activities, the dissemination of pamphlets and manifestos as well as with the publication of their seven magazines. But precisely through these activities the group SPUR significantly contributed to the artistic spirit of optimism in Germany in the 1960s. In their text "The Way we Paint" published in 1959 the group states: "We integrate all the significant tendencies of painting in one system. We are not only abstract but also figurative. We have an abstract method that enables us to be figurative. The forms and objects that originate from the personal preference of the individual blend with the abstract system." Wassily Kandinsky’s oeuvre, cubistic compositions, the painting process of the Informel, Max Beckmann’s works and the dynamics of the baroque image space – all these influences contributed to the artists' highly independent and fascinating visual language, which combined figurative and abstract elements. Politically the group was very open. Its members were consistently – to a greater or lesser extent – in close contact with other artists and intellectuals, not least, in an international context, with the Situationist International around Guy Debord and Asger Jorn. Dieter Kunzelmann, SPUR member from 1960 to 1962 and later founder of the radically anti-bourgeois "Kommune 1", fuelled the revolutionary spirit of the group as a "writing" member. In 1965 SPUR fused with the group WIR, founded in Munich in 1959, and in 1966 the group GEFLECHT was formed.
Chronological table
- 1952
first contact between Heimrad Prem, Helmut Sturm and Lothar Fischer at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich - 1957
first contact of Heimrad Prem, Helmut Sturm and Lothar Fischer with HP, foundation of an exhibition society whose members also include Erwin Eisch, Dieter Rempt, Josef Senft (= J.K.S. Hohburg) and Gretel Stadler - 1958
publication of the first SPUR-manifesto, signed by Prem, Zimmer, Eisch, Sturm, Fischer, Jorn, Rempt, Britt and Stadler
publication of the SPUR graphic portfolio with contributions from Eisch, Fischer, Prem, Rempt, Sturm and Zimmer - 1959
"Bense-Scandal" on occasion of the exhibition Extremisten-Realisten
SPUR is admitted to the Situationist International (S.I.) on occasion of its 3rd conference in Munich - 1960
first publication of the SPUR-magazine (August)
participation in the 4th conference of the S.I. in London
publication of SPUR 2 and SPUR 3 (Sept. and Dec.)
Eisch and Stadler leave the group
first contact with Dieter Kunzelmann
contact with the Dutch painter Jacqueline de Jong - 1961
publication of the Januar- or Gaudi-Manifesto on occasion of the exhibition Engagierte Kunst at the Munich Art Society
publication of SPUR 4 Die Verfolgung der Künstler (The prosecution of the artists) (January)
publication of the pamphlet Avantgarde ist unerwünscht (The avant garde is not welcome) on occasion of a conference at the Munich Kammerspiele theater
publication of the special edition SPUR 5 on unitary urbanism (June)
the group travels to Sweden to stay with Jorn's brother Jørgen Nash
publication of SPUR 6: SPUR im Exil (SPUR in exile) (August)
participation in the 5th conference of the S.I. in Gothenburg
the group visits Paolo Marinotti in Vittorio Veneto/Italy
publication of SPUR 7 Album per disegno which was produced in Italy (October)
confiscation of the Spur-Magazines 1-6 by the Munich department of public prosecution
contact with the prospective painter Uwe Lausen
S.I.-film project "So ein Ding muss ich auch haben" (I want that thing, too), featuring, amongst others, Jørgen Nash, Jacqueline de Jong and Maurice Wyckaert - 1962
publication of the SPUR-book including the complete seven editions of the SPUR-magazine, the SPUR-History as well as some manifestos
exclusion from the S.I. (February)
first SPUR-lawsuit before the District Court of Munich against Kunzelmann, Prem, Sturm and Zimmer on the charges of heresy, blasphemy and the dissemination of obscene publications (May)
Kunzelmann leaves the group
second SPUR-lawsuit with exculpatory assessments by Joachim Kaiser, Werner Haftmann, Walter Jens and Josef Oberberger. For Kunzelmann, Prem and Zimmer the sentence is commuted to 5 months probation. Non-guilty verdict for Sturm (November) - 1963
Apainting of the dining room in Willi Bleicher's country home outside Munich
co-production Canal Grande Crescente on occasion of the exhibition Visione Colore at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice
conception of a utopian architectural draft (SPUR-Building), on occasion of the Troisième Biennale de Paris - 1965
contact with the group WIR (Helmut Rieger, Florian Köhler, Heino Naujoks, Hans Matthäus Bachmayer, Reinhold Heller) on occasion of the Augsburger Frühjahrssalon. From April on occasional collaboration
April: last collective painting event of the SPUR-artists (Mal-Spiel), which lasted several days
May: establishment of the basic principles for a collaboration with the group WIR - 1966
formation of different teams of artists, who collectively work on three-dimensional anti-objects
Prem and Fischer disassociate themselves from the group activities
foundation of the group GEFLECHT, who present their anti-objects for the first time at the Van de Loo Gallery in September
Exhibitions (selection)
- 1957
Atelierschau der Gruppe junger Künstler aus München und Berlin, Pavillon Alter Botanischer Garten, München (erste Ausstellung der späteren SPUR-Mitglieder zusammen mit anderen Künstlern) - 1958
Galerie Malura, München (erste SPUR-Ausstellung) - 1959
Extremisten-Realisten, Berufsverband Bildender Künstler, München (Beteiligung) - ab 1959
Galerie van de Loo, München (1962, 1965, 1979 (Kat.), 1986) - 1960
Junge deutsche Kunst, Ulmer Museum, Ulm (Beteiligung)
Galerie van de Loo, Essen - 1962
Graphisches Kabinett Dr. Hanna Grisebach, Heidelberg
XVIII. Salon de Mai, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Beteiligung) - 1963
Visione Colore, Palazzo Grassi, Venedig (Beteiligung) - 1964
Junge deutsche Kunst der Gegenwart, Salon Comparaisons, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Kunstverein München (Beteiligung)
documenta III, Kassel (Einzelwerke von Heimrad Prem und Lothar Fischer)
Galerie Osborne, New York - 1965
Augsburger Frühjahrssalon (Beteiligung) - 1980
Galerie Rothe, Heidelberg - ab 1981
Galerie Georg Nothelfer, Berlin (1987, 2002) - 1983
CoBrA, SPUR, WIR, GEFLECHT, KOLLEKTIV HERZOGSTRASSE, Galerie am Ganserhaus, Wasserburg u. a. (Kat.) - 1985
Galerie von Loeper, Hamburg - 1986
Städtische Galerie Regensburg (Kat.) - ab 1987
Galerie Christa Schübbe, Mettmann/Düsseldorf (1991 Kat., 2003 Kat., 2006) - 1989
La Galerie Condè du Goethe-Institut, Paris
Galerie Sander, Darmstadt - 1991
Eröffnung des Museum SPUR, Cham - 2003
Galerie Marie-José van de Loo, München
Saarland Museum Saarbrücken (Kat.) - 2004
Peter und Gudrun Selinka Stiftung, Ravensburg - 2006
Retrospektive Museum Villa Stuck, München u. a. (Kat.) - 2010
SPUR-Raum anlässlich der Jahresgaben-Ausstellung im Kunstverein München - 2013
Kunsthalle zu Kiel (Kat.)
Sammlung Hurrle, Durbach (Kat.) - 2015
Neupräsentation der Sammlung Kunst nach 1945 der Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Kat.)
Publications
Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker und Pia Dornacher (Hrsg.), Gruppe Spur, Ausst.-Kat. Museum Villa Stuck, München, Museum Lothar Fischer, Neumarkt i.d. OPf., Kunsthalle St. Annen, Die Lübecker Museen, Hansestadt Lübeck, Ostfildern 2006
Ilonka Czerny, Die Gruppe SPUR (1957 - 1965). Ein Künstlerphänomen zwischen Münchner Kunstszene und internationalem Anspruch, Wien, Berlin, Münster 2008
Wolfgang Dreßen u.a. (Hrsg.), Nilpferd des höllischen Urwalds. Spuren in eine unbekannte Stadt- Situationisten, Gruppe SPUR, Kommune 1, Ausst.-Kat. zur gleichnamigen Ausstellunge des Werkbund-Archivs Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Gießen 1991
Axel Heil für Museum für Aktuelle Kunst - Sammlung Hurrle Durbach (Hrsg.), Gruppe SPUR, Vagabundierende Unruhe, Ausst.-Kat., Durbach 2013
Richard Hörner, Die Gruppe SPUR: politische Manifeste einer Künstlergruppe, Wörth am Rhein 2005
Anette Hüsch und Dörte Zbikowski (Hrsg.), Dritte Welle. Die Gruppe SPUR, der Pop und die Politik, Ausst.-Kat. Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Köln 2013
Veit Loers (Hrsg.), Gruppe SPUR 1958-1965 Lothar Fischer, Helmut Sturm, Heimrad Prem, HP Zimmer, Ausst.-Kat. Städt. Galerie Regensburg, Regensburg 1986
Galerie van de Loo (Hrsg.), Gruppe SPUR. Eine Dokumentation, Ausst.-Kat. Galerie van de Loo, München 1988 (2. Aufl., 1. Aufl. 1979)
Matthias Mühling, Eva Huttenlauch - Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, München (Hrsg.), GRUPPE SPUR Edition Lenbachhaus Nr. 2, München 2015
Roberto Ohrt, Phantom Avantgarde. Eine Geschichte der Situationistischen Internationale, Hamburg 1990
Roberto Ohrt, Ein kultureller Putsch. Manifeste, Pamphlete und Provokationen der Gruppe SPUR, Hamburg 1991
Florian Rötzer, „Soziale Phantasie. Gruppen in München“, in: Kunstforum International, Bd. 116, Köln 1991, S. 151-207
Christa Schübbe (Hrsg.), Gruppe Spur 1958 – 1965. Lothar Fischer, Heimrad Prem, Helmut Sturm, HP Zimmer, Ausst.-Kat. Galerie Christa Schübbe anlässlich der Art Cologne, Mettmann, Düsseldorf 2003
Christa Schübbe (Hrsg.), Gruppe Spur 1958 – 1965. Lothar Fischer ..., Ausst.-Kat. Galerie Christa Schübbe anlässlich der Art Cologne, Mettmann, Düsseldorf 1991
Nina Zimmer, SPUR und andere Künstlergruppen. Gemeinschaftsarbeit in der Kunst um 1960 zwischen Moskau und New York, Berlin 2002