Galerie Krinzinger

LOLITA = LEGALITY MABUSE = ‘KUNSTWOLLEN’ MABUSENLOLITAS = MAGNETISM Jonathan Meese is following the traits of Lolita and Dr. Mabuse, two fictional characters who stand for the establishment of their own systems of power. In his latest series of paintings, drawings and sculptures the artist ist getting to the bottom of these characters. While Lolita has been a present figure in Meeses works for a long time, the figure of Dr. Mabuse from the famous silent film classic of the 1920s by Fritz Lang is new in the artist’s visual world. Mabuse is a psychoanalyst and criminal who paves his way to power with his ability to transform, hypnosis and manipulate. In its genius and madness, it fits seamlessly into the gallery of villains who have always fascinated Meese. Many of his movie heroes, like the bad guys in James Bond like Dr. No, Goldfinger, Scaramanga, Ernst Blofeld, Mr. Big, Zorin are in the succession of Dr. Mabuse and form a network of antiheroes that Meese has processed in a triptych for the exhibition. For Meese, Dr. Mabuse of the „Dr. Hypnotoz ”, the magician who conjures up“ reality ”like Merlin or Klingsor. In the abstract portraits of the film icon, thick layers of paint depict the figure’s many masks and, here too, raise the question of the face of evil and how one can actually recognize it. A clear or psychological reading is neither the goal nor the interest. The question is rather, what can painting set against the image of film, where does it have better means of telling a story? Or how does history change in painting?

Jonathan Meese was born in 1970 in Tokio, lives and works in Berlin and Ahrensburg. Solo Exhibitions (selection): 2021 DIE DR. MABUSENLOLITA (ZWISCHEN ABSTRAKTION UND WAHN), Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna 2019 Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, FIN 2018 Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, DEU 2017 Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, DEU Kunsthistorisches MuseumVienna, AUT Carré Sainte-Anne, Montpellier, FRA 2015 Nationalgalerie Prag, Tschechien, CZE 2013 Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, AUT 2012 Akademie der Bildenden KünsteVienna, AUT Museum voor actuele kunst, Den Haag, NL 2010 „ Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA 2007 Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, AUT 2006 Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DEU Franz Hals Museum, Haarlem, NLD, 2005 Statens Museum for Kunst, Kopenhagen, DNK 2004 Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, DEU

Galerie Krinzinger was founded in 1971 by arthistorian Dr. Ursula Krinzinger. Since then she had organized at least 500 exhibitions of national and international artists, mounting solo shows, group and thematic shows. The main interest and source of the gallery program stems, on the one hand, from international performance and body related art (Marina Abramovic since 1975, Chris Burden since 1992 based originally on Viennese actionism (Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch, Otto Muehl since 1975). Additionally the gallery has been working with national and international artists Jonathan Meese, Gavin Turk, Eva Schlegel, Mark Wallinger, Thomas Zipp,…) for over forty-five years. The latest additions to the program result from Ursula Krinzinger’s research in Asia and the Middle East. (Kader Attia, Waqas Khan, Maha Malluh, Sudarshan Shetty, Zhang Ding), and this already consequently during and since 12 years. Besides the gallery program, Ursula Krinzinger organizes and curates exhibitions in various spaces outside the gallery, including the galleries second space: Krinzinger Schottenfeld, which was founded in 2002 as Krinzinger Projekte. Internationally orientated, group and topic exhibitions define the program, that quickly earned an international reputation. Housed in a separate building, Krinzinger Schottenfeld joins Galerie Krinzinger in inviting young national and international artists to take part in the gallery’s artist-in-residence program, which currently includes destinations in Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Sri Lanka. For more than forty-five years Galerie Krinzinger has regularly participated in the worlds most important art fairs, among them: Arco Madrid, The Armory Show New York, Art Dubai, Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Brussels