Ondrej Brody and Kristofer Paetau
dal 17/5/2011 al 31/5/2011
Segnalato da
17/5/2011
Ondrej Brody and Kristofer Paetau
Styx projects, Berlin
In 'To Lose' Brody and Paetau set up two conflicting ideas against one another: the contemporary' s preference for the biographical over the difficulty of the work itself, and the contemporary artist's struggle, in spite of all this, to continue to 'make it new', in the Modernist tradition. These questions are explored in the context of a new video work and a performance.
STYX Projects is proud to present
»To Lose«, a curatorial project by the
artist duo Ondrej Brody and Kristofer
Paetau.
In their video work and interventions throughout the last seven years,
Ondrej Brody and Kristofer Paetau
have emerged as ›agents provoca-
teurs‹ of the international art scene.
In an era when seemingly any action
or type of work is deemed acceptable
and marketable by the contemporary
art establishment, Brody and Paetau
continue to probe the borders of taste
and sensibility, posing a serious threat
to the normative social conditions of
the art world and making a strong
argument for the possible emergence
of a new and virulent avant-garde.
The artists’ task is often approa-
ched via an interrogation of the idols
of classical Modernism. »To Lose« will
not be an exception.
Resonating with
the artists’ recent exploration of hu-
man verticality, »Ein lebendiger Gar-
tenzwerg in Bad Ems«, »To Lose« will
see the artists-as-curators introducing
a new-old artist on to the contempora-
ry art scene.
His name is To Lose. Not
Toulouse-Lautrec, exactly, but perhaps
a descendant. A descendant ›inven-
ted‹ by the curators. But what will To
Lose show in this, his first important
Berlin solo exhibition? Will he be able
to sustain the myth of artistic genius
that has carried his career this far and
preserved his predecessor’s name in
the annals of art history? What role is
left for the curators to play, now that
they have ›handed over‹ the exhibition
to this infamous, yet unknown artist?
Is an artist just a name? What is in a
name, anyway?
As their practice is always first and
foremost a critical one, Ondrej Brody
and Kristofer Paetau thus set up two
conflicting ideas against one another
in »To Lose«: the contemporary’s
preference for the biographical over
the difficulty of the work itself, and the
contemporary artist’s struggle, in spite
of all this, to continue to ›make it new‹,
in the Modernist tradition. These ques-
tions will be explored in the context of
a new video work and a performance at the opening of the exhibition. In the
end, To Lose hopes to demonstrate
exactly why, in a post-hyper-capitalistic scenario, to lose might be a more
rewarding premise than to win.
Ondrej Brody (b. 1980 in Prague,
CZ) & Kristofer Paetau (b. 1972 in
Porvoo, FI) work together as an artist
duo since 2004. Their work has been
shown in numerous international
group and solo shows and is part of
several public collections, among them
»Kunsthallen Nikolaj«, Copenhagen,
»MoCa Museum of Contemporary
Art«, Cape Town, South Africa and
»MAC Museo de Arte Contemporanea
de Niteroi«, State of Rio de Janeiro,
Brasil. In 2010 they got awarded the
»Balmoral Kunstpreis 03«.
(Image: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at the beach at Le Crotoy, Picardie in 1898. Photographed by his
friend, the gallery owner Maurice Joyant. Later published as postcards.)
Opening Reception: 18 May 2011, 7 pm
STYX Projects
The Old Brewery
Landsberger Allee 54, Berlin
Open Fridays to Sundays
3–5 pm or by appointment
Free entry