Jonathan Meese
Jonathan Meese
Fort d'EVOLUTIONSKNOXOZ de ZARDOZEDADADDY 2 (ERZ JOHNNY WAYNE IS DADDY COOLISMEESE)
2016
mixed media installation
overall approx (dimensions variable): 7' 8" x 12' 9" x 13' (233.7 x 388.6 x 396.2 cm)
(JM6270)
Jonathan Meese
Fort d'EVOLUTIONSKNOXOZ de ZARDOZEDADADDY 2 (ERZ JOHNNY WAYNE IS DADDY COOLISMEESE)
2016
mixed media installation
overall approx (dimensions variable): 7' 8" x 12' 9" x 13' (233.7 x 388.6 x 396.2 cm)
(JM6270)
Jonathan Meese
ERZMARSHALL II
2016
acrylic on paper
19 x 14 1/8 in
48 x 36 cm
(JM6173)
Jonathan Meese
OHNE PARTEI
2011
pen and graphite on paper
15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in
40 x 40 cm
(JM6163)
Jonathan Meese
Untitled
2008
acrylic and cut-and-pasted printed paper on cardboard
17 3/8 x 12 5/8 in
44 x 32 cm
(JM6161)
Jonathan Meese
Studie zu Flash Gordon
2004
graphite and charcoal on paper
15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in
40 x 30 cm
(JM6148)
Jonathan Meese
Untitled (PICASSOSOLDAT Saint Ezra Pound)
2000-2003
artist's book. 40 double-page spreads, with collage, drawing, painting, photo
27 3/4 x 20 x 1 7/8 in
70.5 x 50.8 x 4.8 cm
(JM6107)
Jonathan Meese
Die Kapitano-Bligh Serie
2002
cut-and-pasted photocopy, acrylic, and felt-tipped pen on photo-collage laid on paper
16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in
42 x 30 cm
(JM6145)
Jonathan Meese
Untitled (BALTHYS KREUZ)
2000-2001
double-sided collage, with acrylic, permanent marker, and mixed media
19 7/8 x 20 3/4 x 3/8 in
50.5 x 52.8 x 1 cm
(JM6126)
Jonathan Meese
Untitled
1993-1994
mixed media
20 7/8 x 19 3/4 x 12 in
53 x 50 x 30.5 cm
(JM6106)
Jonathan Meese
Untitled (HIER IST WAS IM BUSCH)
1993-1994
acrylic, pen, permanent marker, and graphite on photocopy
11 3/4 x 8 1/4 in
29.7 x 21 cm
(JM6153)
Jonathan Meese
DR. TRANS-FORM-ERZ
October 27 - December 17, 2016
Opening reception: Thursday, October 27, 6-8pm
"All the artists want is to serve democracy, religion, their ego, or their career. ... It's a culture party. ... Art will be the savior, not the artist. ... I have to serve art. I don't serve myself." - Jonathan Meese, 2016
David Nolan Gallery is pleased to announce DR. TRANS-FORM-ERZ, a survey of nearly 70 drawings from over two decades by Jonathan Meese. On view from October 27 through December 17, the exhibition marks his first collaboration with the gallery and his first solo presentation in New York since 2011. A fully illustrated catalogue co-published by David Nolan Gallery and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, with an essay by Pamela Kort, accompanies the exhibition.
Meese’s work includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and performances but also extends to writing, stage design, and directing within the field of theater and opera. His practice addresses certain uneasy aspects of German political history and seeks to adopt ideological symbols and empty them of meaning. The subjects of his work have included Richard Wagner’s three act opera “Parsifal”, and more recently, the American actor, John Wayne. Wayne’s portrayals of unconquerable cowboys in over 80 Westerns, serve as the inspiration for a new suite of drawings entitled ERZMARSHALL. Newly conceived for the exhibition is an immersive installation that occupies an entire room. Combining painting, drawing, and sculpture, the work provides an environment in which the viewer can bear witness to Meese’s wide-ranging imagination.
The central importance of drawing in Meese’s career is underscored by an anecdote that the artist has recalled about travelling through Hamburg with his mother on his 22nd birthday. When asked what he would like as a present, the young Meese requested paper and pencils so that he could begin making drawings. In his subsequent artistic career, he has channeled and exploited the possibilities of the medium, deploying a range of techniques, working with cotton-rag papers, appropriated imagery in the form of photocopies, and over-painted photographs of himself in various guises.
Meese’s work has been the subject of solo museum exhibitions including Revolution at Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover (2002), Képi blanc, nackt at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2004), Mama Johnny at Deichtorhallen Hamburg (2006), Jonathan Meese: Sculpture at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2010), and MALERMEESE - MEESERMALER at Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2013).
His works are featured in several private and public collections internationally, including Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Hall Art Foundation, New York; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; Musées de la Ville de Strasbourg, France; Rubell Family Collection, Miami; De La Cruz Collection, Miami; and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent. Meese was born in 1970 in Tokyo and now lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg.
