California Dreaming

Ulysses Jenkins, born in 1946, his father a barber, his mother a homemaker, grew up in the vibrant city of Los Angeles, embarked on a 50 years creative journey that would shape the landscape of contemporary art. 

Initially drawn to painting and muralism, Jenkins serendipitously found video art just as consumer cameras began making their way into the hands of individuals. Ulysses got his medium, and this technological revolution presented him with the opportunity for broadcasting his point of view, for making his art, for reaching others.

Philadelphia . Los Angeles . Berlin .

We . Are . Planet .

Recently, I had the pleasure of experiencing the exhibition featuring Ulysses Jenkins‘ remarkable body of work. These expo commenced its journey at the ICA Philadelphia before gracing the halls of Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. And now, fortunately for all art lovers in Germany’s capital, Berlin, it has found its home – until July, 30 – at the Julia Stoschek Foundation.

To gather the work for this exhibition took the curators Meg Odin and Erin Christovale five years.

I love the fact that your (Ulysses Jenkins) work in some way is hard to pin down.

Erin Christovale

Ulysses, as an artist, often delves into themes of race and gender, exploring their intricate connections to ritual and history, and the wielding of state power. His profound understanding of how images, sounds, and cultural iconography inform representation is evident throughout his art. Influenced by the city where he was born, worked, and flourished, his creations bear the unmistakable imprint of his environment. As someone with German heritage, I’ve always been – and will always be – deeply touched and in a positive way fascinated by the wonderful pride and passion American artists show love and devotion for their country.

Race . Gender . History .

Respect . Closeness . Life .

Using a captivating blend of archival footage, photographs, image processing, and elegiac soundtracks and speeches, Ulysses skillfully weaves together strands of thought to construct an „other“ history.

His artistic contributions have not only shaped his own career but have also profoundly influenced an entire generation of artists. Persistently. 

Despite his undeniable talent, it is only now, at the age of 77, that he is receiving the well-deserved recognition and success that have long eluded him. 

There might be three reasons for this delayed recognition: firstly, the fact that he is black; secondly, his geographical location in Los Angeles, which has historically significantly lived in the shadow of New York in terms of the art world; and thirdly, his own humble approach to his craft, consistently prioritized the joy of creation and the camaraderie of his artistic community over seeking fame and fortune.

In his thought-provoking work, Ulysses addresses how white supremacy is deeply embedded within popular culture and its impact on subjectivity. His unflinching commentary serves as a potent reminder of the need for societal introspection and change.

Inequality . Capitalism . Governmental oppression . 

Freedom . Friendship . Love .

The group of artists he was surrounded by were not getting any sort of support or representation by mature museums or mature galleries in the city.

Erin Christovale

Finally, it is a delight to witness the belated success and attention bestowed upon Ulysses and his artwork.


Having never visited the Julia Stoschek Foundation before, was truly enchanted by the experience it offered. The building and the abundance of rooms provided the perfect setting for dividing Ulysses Jenkins‘ work into smaller, more intimate parts, each with its own distinct atmosphere. 

As I meandered through the exhibition, my curiosity piqued, I found myself exploring every nook and cranny. The darkened rooms were brought to life by the dynamic media presentations, films, slideshows, and photographs, immersing me in Ulysses’ creative universe.

Ulysses Jenkins continues to call Los Angeles his home, remaining connected to the city that has played a profound role in shaping his artistic journey.

Ulysses Jenkins . Without Your Interpretation .

Julia Stoschek Foundation . Berlin .

If I’m quite I’m done

IMO a few works have the audacity and thought-provoking impact of Josh Kline’s Project for a New American Century. This masterful creation is both a testament to Kline’s visionary brilliance, combined with unwavering dedication to address the pressing issues of our time, and a work of art showing his love for the United States. 

Regarding the saying „Love it, change it or leave it“, if he would’t love it he could choose to leave it (Leave it alone . Close one’s eyes about issues) … But Josh wants change. Inspired by this : Whitney’s Public Program . July, 9th :

https://whitney.org/events/century-displacement

Get a ticket . If you love . I do .

Tempting, ganz offensichtlich

„Ceci n’est pas une pipe.“

„This is not America.“

But good people can make a difference. Always.

The Temptation to Exist by Alfredo Jaar, *1956 in Santiago de Chile, based in New York, is the current exhibition at gallery Thomas Schulte in Berlin.

The gallery with its exhibition space

It shows works of the past four decades, Alfredo‘s himself, and those of other very important, famous artists who knew and know how to make a difference, in triggering social-political, in swimming against the current, withstand the mainstream, shining a light, provoke and seduce at the same time.

Otherness bears a very special charm, at which we look, and the artist leads us. „Excellent art“ means not to capture and inspire us at first sight (only), but art which endures, which remains in our minds – above all in our hearts – and then occasionally pops up there as a reminder until it manifests itself permanently in our thoughts, our convictions and actions. 

There are no rules for Contemporary Art … („What are the rules of the game? Well, really the answer is that there are none.“ (Natalie Rudd. Contemporary Art. Thames & Hudson. 2023. p.34)) but there is a multitude of creative ideas that move us, reach us, artists who have managed to motivate whole nations, worldwide as well. 

We may not necessarily like the word „blockbuster“, especially in Germany, because too entertaining, a bid superficial perhaps, too enthusiastic and just too much, but the artists whose works are gathered in this exhibition that Alfredo provides, are undeniable a crème de la crème! And as an answer to the question of how to make art when the world is in its current state, Alfredo states: make art!

An artist creates a place for hope.

An artist creates a place for resistance.

An artist creates a place that allows others to find ideas and break new ground. 

„If I didn’t write, I could have become an assassin,“ and „It is not worth the killing of bother yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.“ These quotes are written and announced by Emil Cioran (*1911 in Rãsinari/Romania — 1995 in Paris/France) one of Alfredo‘s most beloved writers, and the exhibition’s title marks a reference to one of the books of Cioran. 

In German there’s a saying: „Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof“, translated: Life’s not a pony farm, which means that life is no walk in the park, and ’s not meant to be (too) easy. 

Yes, life is not a pony farm, even, or particularly, if you’d decide that you’d love to live on one, and often it is those who felt and had to live through the most pain and injustice who carry the biggest heart into the world, and who in between – again and again – are able to see that life sometimes can be a pony farm as well, in spite of everything.

Well, so possibly don’t be too cynical, look at art, try to see beauty in its many forms  – at least purpose – in everything and everybody, and live your live as an artist, as an art admirer, as a lover, as a friend. And maybe. In the best case. Make. A. Difference. 
Dostojewski meinte Schönheit könne die Welt retten ..

Artists of the exhibition:

Alfredo Jaar, Bas Jan Ader, Rosa Barba, Letizia Battaglia, Dawoud Bey, Monica Bonvicini, Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Stanley Brouwn, Giovanna Calvenzi, Angela de la Cruz, Hanne Darboven, Gino De Dominicis, Juan Downey, Theo Eshetu, Ayse Erkmen, Valie Export, Hamish Fulton, Hans Haacke, Mona Hatoum, Jenny Holzer, Rebecca Horn, Ann Veronica Janssens, Joan Jonas, Birgit Jürgenssen, On Kawara, Seydou Keïta, Grada Kilomba, Cosima zu Knyphausen, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, Mischa Kuball, Piero Manzoni, Gordon Matta-Clark, Zanele Muholi, Shirin Neshat, Yoko Ono, Anna Oppermann, Giuseppe Penone, Susan Philips, Charlotte Posenenske, Gerhard Richter, Fred Sandback, Karin Sander, Carolee Schneemann, Malick Sidibé, Katharina Sieverding, Dayanita Singh, Nancy Spero, Rosemarie Trockel, Reijiro Wada, Lawrence Weiner, and Francesca Woodman. 

Rebecca Horn . Love and Hate . 2004
Hans Haacke . Grass Grows . 1967–1969

Monica Bonvincini . Power Joy Humor Resistance . 2021

Katharina Sieverding . PENDING TITLE . 1973 . &: Valie Export . Aus der Mappe der Hundigkeit . 1969/2022
Juan Downey . Yanomami with Camera . 1976/2022 . &: Angela de la Cruz . Cut Frame S . 2022
Francesca Woodman . Untitled . 1979/1980
Shirin Neshat . Stories of Martyrdom . 1994

I always believed that in order for me to act in the world, I need to understand the world.

Alfredo Jaar
Detail: Alfredo Jaar . Other People Think . 2012 . &: Dawoud Bey . David Hammons, Blizaard Ball Sale II . 1983/2019

Images are very important, images are fundamental, images are not innocent.

Alfredo Jaar

Alfredo Jaar names his most well-known project the Rwanda project, the genocide in Rwanda, ignored for many days until up to seven weeks, by the big, influential newspapers around the world.

Alfredo Jaar . The Temptation To Exist . June, 24 – August, 12 . Galerie Thomas Schulte . Berlin .

Jenny Holzer . Survival: Dance on down to the government… . 1984

Where there is (a) Will, there’s a Way

What’s that!?!

I’m in love!

Well, that’s not new, because you can fall in love several times a day for the little things. But this is different, this time, pretty sure! I’m in love with the artworks of Will since I saw them for the first time. 

Just flashed. Longing. Inspired. 

And that love for art and U.S.-American ranch life is a wonderful combination is even shown in the movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longest_Ride_(film) in which the professional bull rider Luke meets Sophia, student of art history and – despite all cultural and distance-related adversities – falls in love. 

Art.

Cowboys. 

Love.

And a drama with a happy ending.

Thus the movie. 

Will(iam) Cotton is an American artist, born 1965 in Melrose/Massachusetts, who lives and works in New York City and, regarding his current subjects in his artwork, spent a time in Wyoming once. He does cowgirls, cowboys and pink unicorns, bedded in landscapes similar to the land of milk and honey. 

Actually Will gained notoriety by painting sugary landscapes, close-up’s of ice-cream-mountains, sugar-houses made of delicious cookies, chocolate-sauce-lakes and cotton-candy-clouds.

Sticky. 

Sweet. 

Playful children’s dreams! And in them one or another, soft-naked feminine beauty nestled in honey-sweet clouds or their bodies decorated with sauce and whipped cream. Presenting a seductive world, which seems so flawless that one is almost desperate to find abysses in it. 

We start looking for the dirty taste behind the sweet one.

Exhibition catalog . Will Cotton Paintings . 1999 – 2004 . Daniel Templon 

And despite the fact that Will treats food and the consumption of it as a subject, we’re not able to find the critical irony known from Pop Art in his paintings, completely left to our own devices, if we want to find a more serious background, we can think of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. However, much more obviously, the artist invites us to see the abundance and the desire, a huge longing, for food and pleasure. 

Paradies!

For several years, Will has devoted himself to the image of the lonesome cowboy as a symbolic image of the US, which he knows to introduce in a completely new way. Thanks to him, pink unicorns jump through puddles of milk and cream, are presented in front of sugar-clouds and flamingo-pink skies, predominantly young handsome men with sexy bodies on their backs.

Will Cotton poursuit sa réflexion sur la pop-culture et les mythes américains. 

Press Release – Templon 

This artist sugar-coats the cliché of the western rider, the masculine cowboy on a wild horse, thus symbolizing a free, unbridled, wild America with cutesy kitsch, and depicts homogenous eroticism as well as childlike elements, the latter because his subjects, apart from the nudity of the gorgeous men, could just as well depict a picture book wallpaper in a child’s room.

The unicorn’s unicorn, for example, is like a candy cane from a fairground, and the animal’s eyes, clearly too big for a horse’s head, look somewhat naively into the world. 

Moreover, the men are almost too good to be true, with perfectly trimmed beard, swinging the pink lasso between their fingers, mint green chaps flap around the muscular legs, or man also sits completely naked in the western saddle, stands in the stirrups, the bodies dipped in the perfect beach tan.

In the current exhibition Trigger at Gallery Templon à Paris, Will introduces the cowgirl for the first time in a(n) (solo) exhibition. The American woman with stylish 50s retro hairstyle, cowboy hat on it, and only wears glittering underwear with her leather chaps. 

Melting Icecream. 

Froot Loops.

Meringues.

In addition the horse’s halter spiked with lollipops and sweets, and enviably long eyelashes around baby-blue eyes: at the horse. 

Everything, almost too good to be true. And it is, because who in his life has ever seen such a clean horse and galloped over vanilla-ice-cream-hills, crossed root-beer-swamps?

An exhibition, however, at least due to the wonderful humor of the artist is particularly great fun, with its greatest opposites united. He also invents a world of his own that reflects our schizophrenic society, in which grandiose landscapes host a playful scenery that at the same time is disturbing, like a too opulent, too idealized country, here: America. 

The dream is real, however, in that the image of the Wild West and art can be successfully combined, just like Luke & Sophia in The Longest Ride. Dreams come true if you believe in them. Pretty sure!

Or: 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Always.

Will Cotton . Current exhibition : Trigger . @Gallery Templon . 75003 Paris . 30 rue Beaubourg .


Sources: Templon : Press Release . Exhibition catalog . Exhibition . Google . Wikipedia . Wyoming .

Videos : @ Instagram : artis_ceejay

Fall in Love with Yourself. First.


A dream is a dream is a dream.

Sowie Helden, und wenn denn keine, dann zumindest mit heldenhaftem Körperbau.

Gebräunte Schönlinge, sich besonnen selbst betrachtend – und wenn nicht, dann sich sehr sicher dem Betrachter bewusst. Muskeln spielen lassend. Sich präsentierend von der Schokoladenseite, in diesem Land in dem man Milch und Honig erwarten kann und wird.


Visionäre. Ein anderer Planet. Ein anderes Leben. Weit weg von hier. Und Musik auf dem Ohr, oder die Stimmen und Worte derer, die wir bewusst weit zurücklassen wollen und werden. Zusammenliegend, genießend, allein zu zweit, weil ein einziger Verbündeter vielleicht schon das große Glück ausmachen kann, in einer isolierten Welt. 

Nähe und Distanz. 

Offen und verschlossen.

Zeit und Endlichkeit.

Auf jeden Fall ganz intensiv im Moment,

Zwischen Schönheit, Sorglosigkeit und Regenbögen. 

Wobei der Regenbogen erst zu jenem wird, davor einfach nur einen hellen Streifen am Horizont darstellt ..

Wen Narziss da im Gewässer betrachtet und berührt, erkennen wir nicht. Ist er es wie er auf andere wirkt, wer er offensichtlich ist, oder aber eine geschönte Version seiner selbst, seines Antlitz, mit Zucker überzogen, geschönt, weil er sich selbst so sehr liebt, dass da kein Raum für Zweifel bleibt?

Narziss, ein so häufig gewähltes Motiv innerhalb der Kunstgeschichte, welches seinen Ursprung in Ovids Metamorphosen hat und den Narziss selbst ebenso fasziniert wie jeden anderen Menschen um ihn herum.

Lieben wir uns selbst so sehr, weil wir geliebt werden, oder weil eben nicht?

I want you to want me, too!

A dream is a dream is a dream.

Träume lullen uns wunderbar ein, in samtige Gefühle, süßes Nichtstun und die Überzeugung von Endlosigkeit und unserer überschätzten Größe, unserem Glück. Und Träume sind nicht zu greifen. So wie manche Menschen. Doch darf man von letzterem träumen können, kann (davon) träumen dürfen.

.

Paris’ – was für ein wunderbarer Name, der zugleich auch namensgebend für den Ausstellungstitel ist – entführt uns wahrhaftig in (s)ein Wunderland. Nicht ganz so jugendfrei wie bei Alice ganz offensichtlich, doch noch betörender – für manchen, den wahren Erwachsenen – da das Kindliche mit Sexuellem und Eskapaden, Fleisch und Fleischeslust, vereint. 

Wir werden entführt.

Wir sind fasziniert.

Ich mein(t)e, diese Ausstellung “haue rein”.

Viel Freude damit!

Kunst ist!

Paris in Wonderland . By Paris Giachoustidis . At Gallery Kornfeld . Berin . Fasanenstraße . June, 29 – August, 19 . 

Englische Version: vielleicht morgen, vielleicht nie. 

Nachts sind alle Katzen grau

Was ist Trend und wie sehr werde ich diesbezüglich vom Verhalten anderer beeinflusst, kaufe, will so aussehen, so sein?

Vorhang auf, die Bühne ist eröffnet, Social Media at its Best!

Wie finde ich mich selbst, wenn Likes ausbleiben?

Ist Happiness a State of Mind oder, wie die Temperatur beim Wetter, Geld, Spaß, – je mehr desto besser, abhängig von jedem Herzchen, jedem noch so oberflächlichen Kommentar, oder auch derer die von Herzen kommen?

Ist geben hier eigentlich seliger als nehmen?

Sicher nicht! Und gebe ich nur weil ich mir etwas davon verspreche, oder tue ich dies frei, lustvoll, echt?

Bin ich draußen wer ganz anderes; im echten Leben, oder ist das alles gar nicht mehr zu trennen?

Wir, eine Gesellschaft des Überschreibens. Überschreiben das dreizehnte weiße T-Shirt mit dem vierzehnten, die Vorgänger einfach nur etwas weiter hinten im Schrank. Gleich und doch so anders: neu. Überschreiben das 427. Bild, das 54. Video, mit dem Nachfolger.

Und die großen Influencer können nicht irren.

Ich sehe was das du nicht siehst.

Ich habe was das du nicht hast.

Und wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land?

Alles was ich mal wollte will ich nicht mehr, weil ich etwas anderes gefunden habe, für das heute mein Herz schlägt. Cry me a River! Im Dunkeln aber bitte, denn nachts sind alle Katzen grau. 

Hanna fängt Schönheit ein.

Ein Auge für Details. 

Am Zahn der Zeit. 

Ästhetisch. 

Fein. 

Feminin.

Hanna Stiegeler, *1985 in Konstanz/Germany . lives & works in Berlin . Current Exhibition : Infinite Library . June, 24 — August, 12 . at gallery SWEETWATER . Berlin . 

Loved the press release of the gallery – written by Dara Jochum.

Nachts sind alle Katzen grau

What’s trend and how much am I influenced by the behavior of others in this regard, buy, want to look like, be like?

Curtain up, clear the decks, social media at its best!

Do I still love myself if likes fail to support, applaud? Me. 

Is Happiness a state of mind or, like the temperature of the weather, and money and fun, – the more the better, dependent on every „little heart“, every comment, no matter how superficial, or even those that come straight from the heart?

Is giving here actually more blessed than to receive?

Certainly not! And do I give only because I expect, or do this freely, with relish, genuinely?

Am I completely different; in real life, or is all this not to be separated any more?

We, a society of „overwriting“. Overwriting the thirteenth white T-shirt with the fourteenth, the predecessors just a little further back in the closet. Same and yet so different: new! Overwriting the 427th image, the 54th video, with the successor.

And the big influencers can’t be wrong.

Can they?

I see something you don’t see.

I have something you don’t have.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?

Everything I once wanted, no longer longing for, because found something else for which my heart beats today and so much more. Cry me a river! In the dark, please, cause nachts sind alle Katzen grau. 

Hanna captures beauty.

An eye for detail. 

Meeting the current Zeitgeist. 

Aesthetic. 

Fine.

Feminine. 

Hanna Stiegeler, *1985 in Konstanz/Germany . lives & works in Berlin . Current Exhibition : Infinite Library . June, 24 — August, 12 . at gallery SWEETWATER . Berlin . 

Freedom in Art

Die weiße entblößte Frau als Mittelpunkt ihrer Arbeit, weil diese Figur die Geschichte der Kunst repräsentiere ..  

Lisa Yuskavage: „When you walk around in any museum, you know, that’s the center piece of most museums. Is it not?

Helen Molesworth: It is!

Inspiriert von Leonardos Sfumato und Michelangelos Cangiantismo, und sich in einem Dialog befindend zwischen den klassischen Studio-Porträts früherer Malerepochen, wie die derer von Matisse, Courbet und Braque und persönlicher Ikonographie, möchte sie nicht erklären müssen, warum sie Kunst macht, weil sie davon ausgeht, dass ihre Zuhörer dies langweilen würde. Für sie ist Malerei einfach ein Weg interessante Probleme angehen zu können, auf der anderen Seite die Freiheit zu haben tun zu können was sie will.

Freedom in Art.

Freedom in Real-Life.

Lisa Yuskavage, *1962 in Philadelphia, aufgewachsen als die Tochter eines Truck Drivers, gilt als eine der einflussreichsten Künstlerinnen der vergangenen drei Dekaden. Die New York Times titelte im Jahr 2020, dass sie eine sei, die mit ihrer Kunst provozieren wolle. 

Ihre Werke zeigen Femininität von weiblicher Sicht aus gesehen. Sie präsentiert Frauen mit Mädchenkörpern, sowie Mädchengesicht auf den Körpern von Frauen. Lisa läßt diese an Lollis lutschen, deren entblößte Brüste dem Betrachter entgegen wölben und sie – immer wieder – mittels gespreizter Beine in V-Form, dazwischen die Vagina, posieren. Keck der Blick über die Schulter dabei. 

Auch träumerisch in sich gekehrt, um den Betrachter wissend oder auch nicht .. Die Frauen genießen ihr Dasein, ihre Umgebung, die Räume oder die Natur in der sie sich jeweils befinden, in einer eher ergebenen und passiven Haltung.

2015 titelte die Washington Post über “diese von Pornos inspirierte Künstlerin”, deren Kunst sie (die Zeitung) größtenteils nicht zeigen könne. Anders auch, die beiden gezückten Mittelfinger, dazu der anklagende Blick, oder gar der Lauf einer Pistole, beides direkt zum und auf den Betrachter gewandt, gerichtet. 

Painting isn’t like ice skating where I try to figure out how to do a triple axle. 

L. Yuskavage

Lisas Kunst ist üppig, leuchtend, farbintensiv, beinahe einem chemical-like use von Farbe entsprechend. Ein Foto eines ihrer Gemälde habe ich bereits seit über einem Jahr als Bildhintergrund auf dem Handy. Gute-Laune-Garantie! Das intensive strahlende Gelb hält mich genauso gefangen genommen und begeistert, wie das verträumte Mädchen, im Badezimmer auf einem Schemel sitzend.

Gesehen wohl auf der Website von David Zwirner Gallery, bei der Lisa seit 2005 bereits unter Vertrag ist. Die Preise ihrer Artworks auf dem Markt sind robust und seit sehr vielen Jahren stabil. 

Ihre erste Soloshow damals in den 90’ern hatte sich die Künstlerin sehnsüchtig herbeigewünscht gehabt, war davon dann allerdings derart enttäuscht gewesen, dass sie danach in eine schlimme Depression verfiel und für eine längere Zeit ganz aufgehört hatte zu malen. 

Über Technik sagt sie, dass dies schön und gut sei, doch ihr es als Malerin in erster Linie darum gehe, wie ihr Bild konstruiert sei.

Szenerie.

Farbe.

Die Frau.

Lisa gab in einem früheren Interview ebenfalls an, jeden Tag für mindestens 3-4 Stunden in ihrem Studio zu sein, es jedoch für länger als nur diesen Zeitraum bevorzuge, und sie am liebsten alleine arbeite, um ihre Arbeiten erst dann Betrachtern ausgesetzt zu wissen, wenn sie selbst bereit dazu sei.

Lisa, mit litauischen Wurzeln, agierte in einem amerikanischen Künstlerinnen-Umfeld neben Cecily Brown, deren Werke bei Auktionen heute Höchstpreise erzielen und die gerade eine Ausstellung im Met in New York hat, sowie Rachel Feinstein, die mit John Currin verheiratet ist, der Lisa wiederum einst an der Universität unterstützend zu Hilfe gekommen war, nachdem einer ihrer Professoren ihr anhand Magritte’s „Ceci n’est pas une pipe“-Gemälde erklären wollte, dass ihre gemalten Sujets nicht die Realität seien, worauf Currin meinte, dass ihm dies leid tue, aber er es wundervoll finde, dass Lisa ihre Kunst für real halte. 

I need to think of it as real.

L. Yuskavage . about her art

Diesen Standpunkt scheint sie über die Jahre etwas verändert zu haben. In einem aktuellen Video-interview spricht sie im Hinblick auf Kunst und Realität in einer distanzierteren Manier.

Die Künstlerin bringt in ihren Werken Elemente der high und low culture zusammen. Ihre Frauen, Männer gibt es nicht, wirken glücklich und selbstzufrieden, trotz, oder gerade wegen ihrer Nacktheit. Umso unverständlicher, dass sie vor Jahren einmal – von männlicher Seite – als definitiver Mysogynist bezeichnet wurde. Das Schöne daran ist wiederum, dass diese Kritik an ihr auch zukünftige Verteidigter und Liebhaber ihrer Kunst und Persönlichkeit auf den Weg rief. 

There are entrenched prejudices against all things female, and those expressions can come not just from men but also other women, even in the name of feminism.

L. Yuskavage

Lisa bezeichnet sich selbst als eine die bisweilen höchst vulgäre, rauhe und unheimliche Dinge mit ihrer Kunst präsentiere könne, und dass dies eben nicht die Sujets und Verhaltensweisen seien, die man Frauen in unserer Gesellschaft zugestehen würde.

Isn’t it? 

Mutig.

Anders.

Frei.

It is!

I chose a manner of constructing a painting that allows for the huge carnival of emotions that I seek to represent, anger being only one of them, but also love and tenderness and humor, loneliness, self-deprecation, internalized misogyny, grief and joy… the whole banquet table.“

L. Yuskavage

Nun, eintauchen, bei Zwirner in Paris in diese starken Sujets Lisa’s, die pure Liebe und Verständnis für andere Frauen repräsentieren und keine Spur von Misogynie aufweisen, stattdessen zart-pudriges Mädchensein und reife, (wunder)volle Feminität in eine wirklich gelungene Verbindung setzen. Geschlossene Räume genauso wie das offene Feld in ihren Gegensätzen einfangend und ihren Mädels jeweils Raum lassend oder Nähe schenkend. Die Nacktheit als etwas Selbstverständliches aufgezeigt und Gefühle transportiert, die den Betrachter länger zu beschäftigen wissen werden als es bloße weibliche Kurven jemals könnten. 

Läßt tief blicken.

Signature:

Special!

I want to live in a world where shadows can be gorgeous. 

L. Yuskavage . about the intense color in her work, and asked about light & shadow

Lisa Yuskavage . Rendez-vous . Current exhibition @ David Zwirner Gallery . 108, rue Vieille du Temple, Paris .

Quellen: David Zwirner Gallery . New York Times . Washington Post . Apollo Magazin . 

FREEDOM IN ART

The white exposed woman as the center of her work, because this figure represents the history of art …  

Lisa Yuskavage: „When you walk around in any museum, you know, that’s the center piece of most museums. Is it not?

Helen Molesworth: It is!

Inspired by Leonardo’s Sfumato and Michelangelo’s Cangiantismo, and engaged in a dialogue between the classic studio portraits of earlier painting eras, such as those of Matisse, Courbet, and Braque, and personal iconography, she doesn’t want to have to explain why she makes art because she assumes it would bore her audience. For her painting is simply a way to tackle interesting problems, on the other hand to have the freedom to do what she wants.

Freedom in art.

Freedom in real life.

Lisa Yuskavage, *1962 in Philadelphia, raised as the daughter of a truck driver, is considered one of the most influential artists of the past three decades. The New York Times headlined in 2020 that she’s one who wants to provoke with her art. 

Her works show femininity seen from a female point of view. She presents women with girls’ bodies, as well as girls‘ faces on women’s bodies. Lisa lets them suck on lollipops, their bared breasts arch towards the viewer, and presented with spread legs in V-shape, in between the vagina. Pertly the look over the shoulder at the same time .. Also dreamily – sometimes. 

The women enjoy their existence, their bodies, their surroundings, the spaces or nature in which they find themselves, in a rather devoted and passive attitude. In 2015, the Washington Post ran a headline about “this porn-inspired artist” whose art the newspaper could not show for the most part. Also different, the two bold middle fingers, or even the barrel of a pistol, directly pointed to the viewer, in two of her paintings. 

Painting isn’t like ice skating where I try to figure out how to do a triple axle. 

L. Yuskavage

Lisa’s art is lush, bright, of the most intense color you can imagine, almost corresponding to a chemical-like use of color. For over a year now, have a photo of one of her paintings on my cell phone as a wallpaper. Good mood guarantee! The intense radiant yellow keeps me as captivated and enthralled as the dreamy girl, sitting on a stool in the bathroom. Think I’d seen it on the website of David Zwirner Gallery, with whom the artist has been under contract since 2005. The prices of her artwork on the market are robust and have been stable for many years. She had longed for her first solo show back in the 90’s, but had been so disappointed by it then, that she went into a deep depression afterwards and stopped painting altogether for quite some time. 

About technique she says that this is all well and good, but for her it is primarily about how her pictures are constructed.

Scenery.

Color.

Women.

Lisa, with Lithuanian roots, stated in an earlier interview, too, that she is in her studio for at least 3-4 hours every day, but prefers to be there for longer than that, and favours to work alone so that she can expose her work to viewers only when she herself is ready. She grew in an American artist environment alongside Cecily Brown, whose works now fetch top prices at auctions and who currently has an exhibition at the Met in New York, and Rachel Feinstein, who is married to John Currin, who himself has been once supportive to Lisa at university (Yale School of Art), after one of her professors tried to explain to her, on the basis of Magritte’s „Ceci n’est pas une pipe“ painting, that her painted subjects were not reality, whereupon Currin said that he was sorry about this, but that he thought it was wonderful that Lisa thought her art was real. 

I need to think of it as real.

L. Yuskavage . about her art

This point of view may have chanced for her. In a current interview she talks about reality and art in a more distant way. Lisa brings together elements of high and low culture. Her women, there are no men, seem happy and self-satisfied, despite, or perhaps because of, their nudity and just being alone. All the more incomprehensible that years ago she was once called – by a male – a definite mysogynist. The beauty of it is that this criticism of her also called future defenders and lovers of her art and personality on the way. 

There are entrenched prejudices against all things female, and those expressions can come not just from men but also other women, even in the name of feminism.

L. Yuskavage

The artist describes herself as someone who can sometimes present highly vulgar, rough and sinister things with her art, and that these are precisely not the subjects and behaviors that women in our society would be allowed.

Isn’t it? 

Bold.

Different.

Free.

It is!

I chose a manner of constructing a painting that allows for the huge carnival of emotions that I seek to represent, anger being only one of them, but also love and tenderness and humor, loneliness, self-deprecation, internalized misogyny, grief and joy…. the whole banquet table.

L. Yuskavage

Now, immerse yourself, at David Zwirner Gallery in Paris in these strong subjects of Lisa’s, representing pure love and understanding of her gender, with not a trace of misogyny. Instead, delicately powdery soft girlishness and mature, (wonder)full femininity set in a truly successful combination. Both, closed spaces as well as the open field in their contrasts capturing, Lisa is leaving space or giving closeness to her girls.  

Let’s look deep.

Signature:

Special!

I want to live in a world where shadows can be gorgeous. 

L. Yuskavage . about the intense color in her work, and asked about light & shadow

Lisa Yuskavage . Rendez-vous . Current exhibition @ David Zwirner Gallery . 108, rue Vieille du Temple, Paris .

Sources: David Zwirner Gallery . New York Times . Washington Post . Apollo Magazin . 

I‘m Fallen for You!

Sometimes Art is Poetry.

Just Poetry.

Fall, please! as in Fluffy Clouds.


Overfull Eyes – Moved to Tears, your Heart Deeply Touched

Delicate, Soft and a Gentle Sting.

Hopeful and Melancholic. 

Dramatical.


Sometimes Art is 

Painting & Neons.

Women and their Stories.

Gentleness and Prickles.

Pure Joy, Delight and Pleasureful Pain.

A Longing, and being able to let go.


Finding Depth in Soft Surfaces.

Strength in Softness.

Strong Words that Dug into Your Eyes, Softly Whispered in Your Ear.


The Rustling of Leaves in the Wind ..

The Splitting of Glas ..

Floating ..

Sometimes Art is

About Possibilities und Transformation

Nature and Humanity.

Darkness und Grace

Just Beauty and Thoughtfulness.

And what is Love without Grief?

Hope, maybe.

Or just nothing.


Sometimes Art is Everything You Need.

Because Art is a Love Language.


Andrea Bowers & Mary Weatherford, both live & work in Los Angeles/US . Current exhibition at Gallery Capitain Petzel . Berlin/DEU .

Trying to get people to change their politics.

Andrea

Trying to do like a hole-in-one in my paintings.

Mary