Olaf Kühnemann | it’sme: auto/biography

Curators: Joshua Simon and Dalia Levin

Sep. 24, 2005 - Dec. 24, 2005

Family Papers, 2001-2005, paintings
אולף קונמן
My mother (Christiane) was born in Germany to a Christian family. At the age of five, she lost her parents in a car accident. After that she lived in an orphanage, until she was adopted by a German couple. My father (Markus) was born in Germany to a Christian family. When he was one year old his father, a soldier on the eastern front, was killed in World War II.

Mother and Father met in Arlesheim, Switzerland, while studying anthroposophy. They had four children: Susanne, Olaf, Hilmar, and Dorothea, fraternal twins.

Mother meets Shimon in Arlesheim. Mother and Father separate.

Mother, Susanne, and Olaf move with Shimon to Montreal, Canada. Three months later, Mother and Shimon go to Switzerland to bring Hilmar and Dorothea to Montreal. Shimon has two sons from his marriage to Dafna: Itamar and Yonatan. Mother, Shimon, Susanne, Itamar, Olaf, Hilmar, and Dorothea are a new family. Yonatan lives with Dafna. Father stays in Switzerland. Mother becomes Christiane, Father becomes Markus.

Dafna and Yonatan move to Jerusalem. Christiane, Shimon, Susanne, Itamar, Olaf, Hilmar, and Dorothea move to Jerusalem. A month later they move to Herzliya Pituach. Markus comes to Israel for a visit. Markus returns to Switzerland. He marries Siglinde. They have two children: Mathias and Ilona.
Olaf goes to England to study in an anthroposophical high school. Olaf returns a year later. Susanne goes to Holland to study. Itamar is drafted. Hilmar goes to Switzerland to study in an anthroposophical high school. Olaf goes to New York to study. Hilmar returns to Israel, to Kfar Raphael in the Negev. Dorothea is in Kfar Raphael as well.

Christiane and Shimon separate. Yonatan is drafted. Hilmar meets Anne in Kfar Raphael. They have a son, Yotam. They get married. Dorothea goes to Italy to study. Susanne meets Juan. Hilmar, Anne, and Yotam go to Denmark. Olaf returns to Tel Aviv. Dorothea goes to Switzerland. Christiane moves to Kiryat Tivon. Hilmar and Anne separate. Hilmar returns to Tel Aviv. Yotam and Anne stay in Denmark. Dorothea goes to New York to study. Dorothea meets David.

Christiane goes to Vancouver, Canada. Christiane meets Rex. Susanne and Juan separate. Susanne and Juan have a daughter, Anahi. Christiane and Rex move in together. Olaf meets Tal. Olaf and Tal move in together in Tel Aviv. Hilmar meets Michal. Hilmar and Michal move in together in Kiryat Tivon. Dorothea and David get married. Christiane and Rex move to the island of Vancouver. Christiane and Rex move to Hornby Island. Olaf and Tal get married. Hilmar and Michal get married. Dorothea and David have a daughter, Emilya. Hilmar and Michal separate.

Olaf and Tal have a son, Noam.

Olaf Kühnemann reverts to family photographs as a realm of concrete and emotional memory. He separates each family member from the whole context and the specific background of the photograph, creating a new family structure on the wall that fuses places, figures, distant and recent past. The work in watercolor is a slow, sensitive and fragile process that disallows adjustments or concealment. Thus, every stroke is irreversible with respect to the figure and the type of presence it conveys.

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