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24/5/2007

Jonathan Meese

De Appel (old location), Amsterdam

Jonathan Rockford (don't call me back, please)

'In the work of Jonathan Meese everything is Everything and everything is Nothing', according to art historian Friedrich Meschede. Jonathan Meese (Tokyo 1970), an 'inventor of idols' who lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg, has installed in de Appel a contemporary 'site-specific' Wunderkammer with paintings, murals, drawings, assemblages, objects, collages, photos, pictures from magazines, posters and painted texts on the walls.

Jonathan Meese is one of German art's rising stars, who through his radical way of working, ambitious themes and heavy symbolism has caused quite a stir since he graduated from the Hamburg-based Hochschule für Bildende Künsten in 1998. His work is based on an almost nineteenth century early romantic attitude to art: it is the mission of the artist to serve 'die Sache Kunst'. This has generated an oeuvre that presents an eccentric universe filled with personal obsessions and bizarre fantasies: art with a grand gesture that depicts visions and appeals to universal sentiments. With his eclectic mix of mythology, history and pop culture, Meese alludes to major upheavals in Western political, art-historical and cultural history. He does not shy from pathos or bombast and refers repeatedly to his personal (notorious) 'heroes' that range from dictators and Hollywood stars to philosophers and musicians. Noel Coward and Ezra Pound, Marquis de Sade and Dorian Gray, Stalin and Nero, Wag ner and Napoleon, or Nietzsche and even Meese's own mother populate his chaotically visualized world of ideas. The installations in de Appel bear witness to Meese's interest in 'imposing' themes like fallen heroes, the cycle of life, and the opposing forces of good and evil.

An intrinsic part of Meese's artistic practice is his much discussed performances. Since a few years, Meese also dares to venture outside the domains of visual art by collaborating with theatre makers and pursuing his own theatrical projects. After designing the stage décors for 'Die Meistersänger' and 'Kokain' by the German director Frank Castorf, his own theatre production 'De frau - Dr Pounddadylein' was premiered at the Berlin Volksbühne in January 2007. During the opening of the exhibition in de Appel, on May 25th 2007, Jonathan Meese held a memorable performance, the fruits of which are to be seen in the present installation.

Meese's work was recently on show in the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg and the MAGASIN Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble (2006), the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2006), The Saatchi Gallery, London (2005). Performances were held in amongst others the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, (2006), the Arario Gallery, Beijing (2006) and the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London (2006).

EXTRA 27 May
Informance: 'Beyond Performativity'

In the wake of Jonathan Meese's performance on May 25, Maison Descartes in collaboration with de Appel, will organise the 'informance' entitled "Beyond Performativity". 'Performativity' - a concept derived from the speech act theory, formulated by the linguistic philosopher J.L. Austin - has grown to become a notion much used and misused in a wide range of fields: from sport and technology to art and economic sociology. The three guest speakers, Boyan Manchev (BUL/FR), Stephen Wright (CAN/FR) and David Zerbib (FR) investigate how the (de-)definition of this concept can be combated and how the meaning of 'performativity' within the field of (visual) arts can best be described.

Opening 25 May, 6 p.m.
Performance 26 May, 8 p.m.

de Appel arts centre
Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 10 1017 DE Amsterdam
Open: Tuesday - Sunday 11am-6pm
Admission free

stampa

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