Founded in 2015 by Augustus Goertz (BFA 1974) and Priska Juschka, Lichtundfire (LUF) is both a physical gallery space in New York City and an online forum about artists it features. In this Q & A, Goertz considers a new way of developing artists’ careers.
SFAI: Tell us about the concept of the project.
Goertz: Lichtundfire promotes creative people and sells their art work. Our role is to become facilitators and catalysts for artists and their work. We also offer a Culture Blog and ask writers versed in one of our featured artist’s careers to write about them—thereby hopefully creating an ongoing dialogue. Furthermore, we hope to create a global forum about pertinent issues within and across cultures.
Where does the name come from?
Lichtundfire is a made up name like Häagen-Dazs. It represents the idea of a global concept that defies national and cultural barriers. It also--when fully translated into English—means “light and fire” which is a play on the the lyrics of Light my Fire and refers to the potential the project has and to the overall energy, enthusiasm, and visionary ambitions involved.
Why is this project important to you?
I have seen how truly gifted people and their contributions are often lost under the waves of celebrity culture. In some small measure, by allowing works themselves to speak to each other, on a more or less equal playing field, we can shed light on greatness undiscovered or forgotten.
Augustus Goertz (b. 1948) was born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City. He received his education at La Guardia High School in NYC, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and earned a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, CA.
After he obtained his BFA in San Francisco, where he studied with Bruce Nauman and Jay de Feo, he returned to New York City in the 1970s and joined Sarah Rentschler Gallery with a roster of contemporaries such as John Ahearn, Stanley Boxer, Koki Doktori, Ronny Landfield, Peter Reginato, and Billy Sullivan. He also exhibited with Patricia Correia Gallery, Rene Fotouhi Gallery, Robin Rice Gallery, and Kim Foster Gallery, New York. His work has been shown and continuous to be exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally (Germany, Austria, South Korea) and has been included in many private and public collections in the US and abroad. He currently lives and works in New York.
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Image credits: 1) Lichtundfire Gallery Installation View, Exhibition Linea Lingua Universalis or Random Connectivity with Grimanesa Amorós, Augustus Goertz, Ray Parker, Jonathan Peyser, Michel Seuphor, Mark Tobey, Tam Van Tran, and Adja Yunkers, Feb 17–April 24, 2016; 2) Lichtundfire Gallery Installation View, Exhibition Visceral Velocity or the Emotional Speed of Things with Ross Bleckner, Paul McCarthy, Margaret Evangeline, Augustus Goertz, Kim Keever, Jonathan Peyser, Frank Thiel, and Adja Yunkers, November 4, 2015–February 14, 2016; 3) Photo of Augustus Goertz, courtesy of the artist.
