Some thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall this exhibition is the first to create a dialogue between Hanne Darboven and Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt—and to trace parallels in the life and work of two artists facing very different realities on opposite sides of Post-war, divided Germany.

“In New York, I tried to find something that I could work on for my whole life. New York was where I built my work.”
–Hanne Darboven

Zeichen der Zeit / Zeit der Zeichen – Sign of the Times / Times of the Sign – Hanne Darboven and Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt – London

Hanne Darboven. Photo: Angelika Platen (1968) | bpk

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Hanne Darboven. Photo: Angelika Platen (1968) | bpk

“In New York, I tried to find something that I could work on for my whole life. New York was where I built my work.”
–Hanne Darboven

Hanne Darboven
Six Books about 1968, 1969
Six 16-mm films, B&W, silent
Approx. 15 mins each
Excerpt from book 2
© Hanne Darboven Foundation, Hamburg
VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt. Photo: Robert Rehfeldt (c. 1960)

“I want what I want but what I want I cannot do but what I can, I’m not supposed to.”
-Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt. Photo: Robert Rehfeldt (c. 1960)

“I want what I want but what I want I cannot do but what I can, I’m not supposed to.”
-Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt

Although Darboven and Wolf-Rehfeldt were active at the same time, they never met and they were not familiar with each other’s work. Yet the repetition of forms, symbols and signs—often consisting of letters or numbers—is a recurring element in the work of both artists.

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Kuben, Kästen, Käfige, 1979
Original typewriting and carbon copies, three elements
29.5 × 21 cm (each)
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches (each)
48 × 83.2 × 3 cm (framed)
19 × 32 3/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Kuben, Kästen, Käfige, 1979 (detail)

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“One + one is one two. Two is one two. This is my original thesis for all rules, which proceed in a mathematical way. I am writing mathematical literature and mathematical music.”
–Hanne Darboven

Hanne Darboven
Untitled, 1971
Ink and feltpen on graph paper
61 sheets, 29.7 × 21 cm each
61 sheets, 11 3/4 × 8 1/4 inches each
61 sheets, 31.3 × 22.7 × 2.5 cm each (framed)
61 sheets, 12 1/4 × 9 × 1 inches each (framed)

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Hanne Darboven
Untitled, 1971 (sequence of single sheets)

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Darboven submitted her works to a clear, artist-defined structure that allowed her to generate a visual form for the contingencies and relationships that emerged from the numerical process. Darboven’s method strikes a contrast to Wolf-Rehfeldt, who composed her work using patterns and combinations of typewriter characters. Despite their differences, both artists shared an interest in the productive potential of external structures.

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Information (informationsbildung), 1970s
Zincography
30 × 20 cm
11 7/8 × 7 7/8 inches
47.5 × 38.8 × 3 cm (framed)
18 3/4 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Limits Endlessness, 1975
Carbon copy of original typewriting
29.5 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
47.5 × 38.8 × 3 cm (framed)
18 3/4 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
ABC… (Alphabet), 1973
Carbon copy of original typewriting
15 × 21 cm
6 × 8 1/4 inches
32 × 38 × 3 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 15 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Victory of signs, mid 1970s
Carbon copy of original typewriting, pen text
29.5 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
47.5 × 38.8 × 3 cm (framed)
18 3/4 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Emptiness, 1974
Carbon copy of original typewriting
29.5 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
47.5 × 38.8 × 3 cm (framed)
18 3/4 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Information (informationsbildung), 1970s (detail)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Limits Endlessness, 1975 (detail)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
ABC… (Alphabet), 1973 (detail)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Victory of signs, mid 1970s
Carbon copy of original typewriting, pen text
29.5 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
47.5 × 38.8 × 3 cm (framed)
18 3/4 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Emptiness, 1974 (detail)

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Unlike Wolf-Rehfeldt, for whom individual works on paper are usually self-contained pieces, Hanne Darboven began very early on to create multi-part installations that soon filled entire rooms. Her work Ein Jahrhundert. 1b / (One Century. 1b) (1971–74) consists of 100 A4 sheets of paper in 25 frames. Each sheet stands in chronologically ascending order for one year of a century, whereby the two numbers—presented here in an interplay of numerical words typed on a typewriter and U-arcs written in ink, which are a typical feature of her work—refer to cross-sum calculations of the first and last day of the year shown.

Hanne Darboven
Ein Jahrhundert.1b, 1971–74
Typewriter and ink on lined paper
100 sheets each 29.7 × 21 cm in 25 frames
100 sheets each 11 3/4 × 8 1/4 inches in 25 frames
25 frames each 30.2 × 84.7 × 2.5 cm (framed)
25 frames each 12 × 33 3/8 × 1 inches (framed)

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“I only use numbers because it is a way of writing without describing … It has nothing to do with mathematics. Nothing! I choose numbers because they are so constant, confined and artificial. Numbers are probably the only real discovery of mankind. A number of something (two chairs, or whatever) is something else. It is not a pure number and has other meanings.”
–Hanne Darboven

In contrast to Darboven’s formulae and attention to the abstract qualities of numbers, Wolf-Rehfeldt’s devised a more visual formula that was also a form of “writing without describing.” Her typewriter works on paper, which she refers to as “typewritings,” can be understood as a form of visual or concrete poetry. Wolf-Rehfeldt created innovative combinations of symbols and visual shapes that reference conceptual art, graphic design and architecture.

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter, mid 1980s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter, mid 1970s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter/Undeterminated sum, mid 1980s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter, mid 1980s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter, mid 1970s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter/Undeterminated sum, mid 1980s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Strukturblätter, mid 1980s
Original typewriting
15 × 10.5 cm
6 × 4 1/8 inches
32 × 27.8 × 2.8 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 11 × 1 inches (framed)

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Figurations collagiert, 1980s
Collage on zincography
31.5 × 23 cm
12 3/8 × 9 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Cagy Being (Käfigwesen) collagiert, 1980s
Collage on zincography
30.5 × 21.5 cm
12 × 8 1/2 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Aufbruchstimmung collagiert, 1974–1980s
Collage on zincography
29.6 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)
Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Figurations collagiert, 1980s
Collage on zincography
31.5 × 23 cm
12 3/8 × 9 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Cagy Being (Käfigwesen) collagiert, 1980s
Collage on zincography
30.5 × 21.5 cm
12 × 8 1/2 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Aufbruchstimmung collagiert, 1974–1980s
Collage on zincography
29.6 × 21 cm
11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches
44.5 × 35.2 × 2.8 cm (framed)
17 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 1 inches (framed)

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In 1966, after completing her studies, Darboven moved from her native Hamburg to New York, where she quickly joined the creative epicenter around Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Joseph Kosuth and other minimal and conceptual artists. Darboven returned to her parental home in 1969, where she would spend the rest of her life devoted to her work. Despite her self-chosen exile, the artist soon established herself as a very active part of the international art scene, thanks to numerous exhibitions in New York and elsewhere, and especially her frequent written correspondence with peers.

Hanne Darboven’s writing desk. Photo: Sprüth Magers

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Hanne Darboven’s writing desk. Photo: Sprüth Magers

Hanne Darboven to Sol LeWitt, 15.6.1969.
All correspondence courtesy and © Hanne Darboven Foundation

Sol LeWitt to Hanne Darboven 18.8.1969

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Sol LeWitt to Hanne Darboven 18.8.1969

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Hanne Darboven to Carl Andre 2.8.1971

Postcard from Carl Andre to Hanne Darboven, 7.3.1971

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Hanne Darboven to Carl Andre 2.8.1971

Postcard from Carl Andre to Hanne Darboven, 7.3.1971

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Living in East Berlin, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt was involuntarily cut off from the West and its art community. Despite political exile, she managed to find a way to keep in touch with fellow artists: In the 1970s, Wolf-Rehfeldt and her husband Robert Rehfeldt became East Germany’s most active initiators of the Mail Art movement. Letters and postcards became her sole channel for exchanging ideas with other artists around the world.

Postcard from Carl Andre to Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, 1983

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Postcard from Carl Andre to Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, 1983

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Mail Art Collaborations, 1987 (detail)
Courtesy: the artists and ChertLüdde

“Mail Art was uncommercial. Everyone could take part, regardless of whether or not they were artists. It was a quite worldwide—not completely, but by large. Through being involved one could do or see certain things, that one otherwise couldn’t have in the GDR.”
–Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Mail Art Collaborations, 1987 (detail)
Courtesy: the artists and ChertLüdde

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“Before the wall came down, I felt a great commitment towards time, with regard to East / West.”
–Hanne Darboven

Hanne Darboven
Ost-West-Demokratie, 1983
Felt-tip pen on postcards, textile flags of the Soviet Union, USA, GDR and BRD
190 parts
50 × 70 cm each (framed)
19 3/4 × 27 5/8 inches each (framed)
Courtesy: Sprüth Magers

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Hanne Darboven
Ost-West-Demokratie, 1983 (detail)

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“Of course it also had to do with the fall of the wall and the end of the GDR. In the beginning I wasn’t intending to stop working—I just realized that I couldn’t do it anymore.”
–Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Divided Planet, mid 1970s
Carbon copy of original typewriting
21 × 15 cm
8 1/4 × 6 inches
38 × 32 × 3 cm (framed)
15 × 12 5/8 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)

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Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Divided Planet, mid 1970s
Carbon copy of original typewriting
21 × 15 cm
8 1/4 × 6 inches
38 × 32 × 3 cm (framed)
15 × 12 5/8 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)

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Hanne Darboven (1941–2009) exhibited at a number of documentas (1972, 1977, 1982), and at documenta 11 (2002) Kontrabasssolo. Opus 45 (1998–2000) was shown on all three floors of the Fridericianum, Kassel. In 1982 she represented the Federal Republic of Germany at the Venice Biennale (along with with Gotthard Graubner and Wolfgang Laib). Selected solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Bern (1969); Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (1971); Kunstmuseum Basel (1974); Deichtorhallen Hamburg (1991/92), Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (both 1986); Dia Center for the Arts, New York (1996); Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (1997); Hamburger Kunsthalle (1999 and 2006); and Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2006). Recent solo exhibitions include Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (2014); a double retrospective at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn and the Haus der Kunst in Munich (2015/2016); and presentations at the Falckenberg/Deichtorhallen Collection in Hamburg and Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart Berlin (2017).

Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, (*1932 Wurzen, lives in Berlin), completely gave up her artistic practice after German reunification in the early 1990s. She still lives in her house in former East Berlin, which also served as her studio. Wolf-Rehfeldt worked steadily for three decades, far from any significant attention. There was little change to Wolf-Rehfeldt’s situation until 2012, when her work was rediscovered and made accessible to the public for the first time with the exhibition Ruth Wolf- Rehfeldt – Original Graphic Works 1972–1989 at Weserburg Study Centre / Museum of Modern Art Bremen on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Regular exhibitions were soon to follow; her work featured at Albertinum, Dresden (2018–2019); Malmö, Konsthall (2017–2018); documenta 14, Kassel (2017); Museum für konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt (2017); Kunstsaele Berlin (2016–2017); and Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo (2016–2017).