Bas Jan Ader: more than the myth

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«.