Manfred Pernice’s exhibition “blubber(t)” opened in a room filled with wooden boxes of varying sizes stacked one on top of the other like pyramids, lacquered in solid-white blocks and lines of colors such as turquoise, fluorescent lime green, and deep purple. Positioned on these were knickknacks: a brass elephant, a Captain Bluebear figurine, and a seagull ornament. Some boxes, left unpainted and unstacked, looked more like crates; others had scenes from the African plains stenciled on them, complete with animal silhouettes, trees, and sunsets. The grouping seemed to evoke civilization and

The Kunstverein in Düsseldorf pulled off a coup with “Henry Flynt: Activities 1959–,” the “first institutional solo show” of the seventy-two-year-old artist, traveling from the kunstverein to ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (March 2–May 19). Flynt, who coined the term concept art in 1961, is one of the “best-kept secrets of contemporary art history,” as Kunstverein Düsseldorf director Hans-Jürgen Hafner rightly says. Philosopher, mathematician, scientist, musician, and artist, Flynt has pursued “activities” that were underpinned by more than just a discipline-bridging approach. His