Sanguine / Bloedrood

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    During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens Inspires, the M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, juxtaposes the spirit of the baroque masters with the vision of contemporary top artists. With the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood (Blood Red), curator Luc Tuymans aims to overwhelm the visitor by placing key works from the baroque of, among others, Francisco de Zurbarán and Caravaggio, in dialogue with works by classical contemporary masters, such as On Kawara and Edward Kienholz, as well as new works by contemporary stars such as Zhang Enli, Takashi Murakami, Michaël Borremans, Sigmar Polke and Tobias Rheberger. 

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    Edward Kienholz

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    °1927 †1994

    In America, Edward Kienholz (1927-1994) does not acquire the status he rightfully deserves during his lifetime: that of a cult artist who looks social excesses straight in the eye. In Europe, on the other hand, there has always been great interest in his installations. The strength of his work, which depicts a degraded urban reality in a hard and bold manner, receives worldwide recognition after his death.

    Initially alone, but later together with his wife Nancy, Kienholz makes confrontational installations, assemblages and environments: life-size characters in a recognisable setting and in characteristically silent poses surrounded by banal objects. Edward Kienholz is an artistic contemporary and supporter of the Beat generation. The whole of his oeuvre constitutes a ferocious commentary on racism, sexual stereotypes, poverty, greed, corruption, imperialism, patriotism, religion, alienation and – above all – moral hypocrisy. Nevertheless – or just because of this – he has, in the United States, long been seen as ‘the least known, most neglected and forgotten American artist’.

    Text: Hans Willemse
    Translations: Michael Meert

    Items

    Edward & Nancy Kienholz Documentation, 1971

    Edward Kienholz
    Five Car Stud, 1969

    Edward Kienholz
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