Christine König Galerie curated by Andrea Bellini
„Die Einsamkeit des Satyrs“

Christine König Galerie, Schleifmühlgasse 1, 1040 Vienna
www.christinekoeniggalerie.com

Curator(s):

Andrea Bellini More Arrow
Andrea Bellini has been the Director of the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève since 2012. His previous positions include serving as co-director of Castello di Rivoli, as director of the art fair Artissima, as curatorial advisor to MoMA PS1, and as editor-in-chief of Flash Art International.
Courtesy of Andrea Bellini

Artist(s):

  • Emilio Prini
  • Jimmie Durham More Arrow
    Born in 1940 in Washington, Arkansas, USA Lives and works in Berlin and Rome
  • Aria Dean
  • Eleanor Antin
  • Hamishi Farah

Exhibition text

More Arrow

DIE EINSAMKEIT DES SATYRS

 

The satyr is alone. The satyr does not belong to any nation, to any association, to any trade union, to any movement. The satyr is a creature of the woods: he has a black eye, a clown nose, a wooden body like Pinocchio. You will never see him participating in a large gathering, a television programme, a debate on social media. The satyr does not sign petitions, does not play golf and avoids conferences and conventions. The satyr is beautiful and sensual, aggressive and lascivious. The satyr has no objective other than to show that the King is naked, and to achieve this he is willing to do anything, even lie. The satyr loves to play, because through play he makes fun of the world, desecrates the powerful and humiliates moralists. Instead of cold minimalism, the satyr prefers the idea of a marvellous standard, and in the concept of the series he sees only the eternal return of eternal violence, the melancholic perpetuation of an endless loop. The satyr is comic, but he does not do comedy: the satyr does not entertain the audience, he is not funny, he is not sociable, he is not conciliatory. The satyr is the exact opposite of the comedian: the satyr is antisocial, the satyr is pure poison. As Carmelo Bene used to say, "to make of one's misfortune a hilarious and deformed caricature, this is the comic that marries the sublime."

Videos

Photos

Emilio Prini: Photograph with intervention (Self-Portrai)
ink, chromogenic print sheet 40 x 29 cm | 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 in
Courtesy Christine König Galerie, Vienna
Jimmie Durham: Untitled (Radio)
mixed media 147 x 35 x 23 cm | 57 3/4 x 13 3/4 x 9 in
Courtesy Christine König Galerie, Vienna