CADAVRE EXQUIS OR THE VOLUPTUOUS DECAY OF THE SHIVERING VEIL

Hans Bellmer, François Boucher, Ernst Yohji Jaerger, Stanislava Kovalčíková, Soshiro Matsubara, Félicien Rops, Linder Sterling, Kazuna Taguchi, Miroslav Tichy

Info: When I think about the representation of the figure in painting and its identity, which is often resolved as a happy ending or spectacle, I often miss the mystery, the fantasy and, to be honest, the decay in the painting of my generation. Many works have a dark, surreal undertone, but in reality rarely achieves the cinematic atmosphere Instagram suggests. When I met Kazuna, Ernst and Soshiro and their work in Vienna, I felt a slight sense of relief because I suspected these artists are dealing with similar themes to mine represented a longing without the happy promises feeding the ubiquitous discursive agendas of the time. We often played Cadavre Exquis on the evenings I was setting up my exhibition in Vienna. This early Surrealist game reminded me of the second current mass phenomenon in the contemporary art world – the artist collectives. Artist collectives are by no means a new phenomenon. But I believe that collaboration can trump competition in the art world, even though competition is an important part of art making. Playing Cadavre Exquis was so much fun. When BRAUNSFELDER approached me with the offer to do an exhibition, I was still processing these different topics, and curious to see respective contemporary phenomena from the dark side (identity as content of an image and dissolution of ownership of a work). (…)