K.H. Hödicke
Ponte Vecchio

K.H. Hödicke took part in the opening exhibition of the René Block Gallery in New York in 1974. Two years later he presented his first solo exhibition there, for which he assembled the Europäischer Reisekoffer (“European Travelling Suitcase”), a selection of 32 smaller objects and models from the years 1967 to 1976, including Ponte Vecchio from 1972. The suitcase of objects alludes to Marcel Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise (1935–41), in which the artist pursued the idea of a portable museum and compiled 69 miniatures, photographs and colour reproductions of his works. Unlike Duchamp’s suitcase, Hödicke’s contains no reproductions but small originals that relate directly to his larger works. In the collaboration between K.H. Hödicke and René Block, the concept of the suitcase initially emerged as a practical solution to avoid the expense of shipping larger works to New York. Hödicke thus brought his entire exhibition with him in the suitcase. The exhibition K.H. Hödicke. Der Europäische Reisekoffer in early summer 1976 showed the suitcase opened up, with the objects presented on a plinth in the gallery space. An image of the bridge object was used on the invitation card for the New York exhibition.
The edition piece Ponte Vecchio – based on the model of the same name from the Europäischer Koffer – had already been issued two years earlier in an edition of 20. Named after the famous historic bridge across the Arno in Florence, it consists of a postcard showing an aerial view of the bridge, spanned in an arch between two halves of a brown brick. These correspond to the terracotta roofs visible in the aerial photograph of Florence. Hödicke’s construction stands on a wooden tray, which, unlike the suitcase model, is printed (screenprint) with name, title and edition details. The postcard spanned between the brick halves is numbered and signed on the reverse.
Text: Birgit Eusterschulte