Hamburger Kunsthalle: »Bas Jan Ader: I'm searching...«

Bas Jan Ader: more than the myth

Bas Jan Ader's work is dominated by his mysterious disappearance in the Atlantic Ocean during an artist's journey in 1975. 50 years later, the Hamburger Kunsthalle is dedicating an exhibition to him from April 11: a rare opportunity to discover Ader's oeuvre on such a large scale.

April 10, 2025
Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975), Fall 2, Amsterdam, 1970
© The Estate of Bas Jan Ader / Mary Sue Ader Andersen / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024. Courtesy of Meliksetian / Briggs, Dallas
Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975), Fall 2, Amsterdam, 1970, 16-mm-s/w-Film, ohne Ton, 19 Min., dokumentiert in einer Farbfotografie

Bas Jan Ader's (1942-1975) work is melancholic and absurd, conceptually simple and complex at the same time. Falling was the central symbol of his artistic work; it was a symbol of failure. Ader dedicated his work to the search for the miraculous and hidden in human life, which he attempted to distil through a conscious loss of control. His small oeuvre was not widely received until the 1990s, since when Ader has been regarded as an icon among artists. Many artists have created homages to his work. The myth surrounding his death stands above the artist's influential work: as part of the large-scale art project In Search of the Miraculous, he wanted to cross the Atlantic alone in a tiny sailing boat. Despite meticulous preparations for his journey, the artist never arrived at his destination; four months after his planned arrival, the remains of his boat were found on the Irish coast. Since then, numerous myths have grown up around his disappearance, from a staged suicide to a deliberate suicide to a secret survival on a remote island. Ader's artistic work has been overshadowed by his disappearance, from which the Hamburger Kunsthalle would now like to lift it: Bas Jan Ader: I'm searching... offers a rare, comprehensive overview of Ader's oeuvre. The exhibition runs from April 11 to August 24.

Investigating physical phenomena, especially gravity, was an important part of Ader's art. Gravity as an essential force that is omnipresent in our lives and exudes a constant danger through falling. Unlike electrical or magnetic forces, it cannot be shielded and is largely beyond human control. Gravity therefore serves Ader as a symbol of the universal, inescapable questions of life. Or as Ader put it in one of his logbooks on his last voyage: »All is falling«.Art.Salon

Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975), Light vulnerable objects threatened by eight cement bricks [Detail], 1970
© The Estate of Bas Jan Ader / Mary Sue Ader Andersen / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025. Courtesy of Meliksetian |Briggs, Dallas
Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975), Light vulnerable objects threatened by eight cement bricks [Detail], 1970, Installation dokumentiert durch 14 35-mm-Dias mit Kugelschreiberbeschriftung sowie digitalisiertes 16-mm-Filmmaterial; Acht Gegenstände, Seil und Zementschlackenblöcke

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