Hard truths for tough times
After a four-year hiatus from Europe pursuant to a relocation to the US in 2018 and the subsequent difficulties to travel due to COVID-19, Akim Monet is thrilled to exhibit again in Berlin. Akim Monet Fine Arts, LLC adds another layer as it were, to the curatorial program developed from 2011 to 2018 in the Berlin exhibition space, Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet GmbH.
The exhibition TOTENTANZ will take place at Tempelhof Airport, a location that could not be more fitting considering the contradictory symbolism it carries.
From a parade field for the Prussian army, to an expression of Nazi might, and as the center of the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949 that saved West Berlin from Soviet control, Tempelhof remains a place of renewed hope that is much loved by the Berliner.
In contrast to the late 40's, a time when America was a beacon of freedom and democracy, a country that welcomed with open arms some of the best minds from Europe, America today constitutes a sad example of the failures of democracy.
Today’s America is an ousted demagogue who tried to enact nothing less than a coup d’état on January 6, 2021.
The country is rampant with racism and recent memories of lynching and other racially motivated killings.
The second amendment (the constitutional right to bear and keep arms ratified in 1791) has totally spun out of control in a vortex of death that averaged 11 mass shootings per week within the first 185 days of 2022.
Finally, the specter of inflation is giving precursory signs of a financial crash that could echo that of 1929.
Nevertheless, in spite of this dire situation, people fight-on in America. “Don’t give up!” is the modus operandi, and open resistance is the norm. Slowly but surely, Americans plough-on with a generosity and panache unequaled anywhere in the world.
It is this spirit that Akim Monet Fine Arts chooses to celebrate in Tempelhof; one that shies not away from addressing tough questions, one that fights for the oppressed, one that by small victories shows that there is a way forward!
Akim Monet brings the combative American George Grosz back to Berlin,
George GROSZ "So smells defeat" 1937 Reed pen and pen and ink on paper 23 ¼ x 18 1/8 in. (59,1 x 46,1 cm)
the incisive Paul McCarthy whom he befriended in Los Angeles,
Paul McCARTHY Benjamin WEISSMAN Naotaka HIRO "Nao, I Think This Is Your Beer (Kill the man)" 2015 Acrylic, collage, watercolor, graphite on paper Framed size: 26 x 20 in (66.04 x 50.8 cm)
Cliff Joseph, the recently deceased activist from the civil rights movement,
Cliff JOSEPH "Southern Comfort" 1965 Oil on board in original artist’s frame 16 x 16 in (40.64 x 40.64 cm)
James “Yaya” Hough, the ex-lifer who, incarcerated for close to 30 years for murder in the context of a drug deal when he was 17, fights to obtain the possibility of rehabilitation for juvenile criminals.
James “Yaya” HOUGH "Untitled (Knives)" 2008-2016 Black ball-point pen on reverse of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Corrections “AUTHORIZED VISITORS LIST” application form (“PINK-INMATE” copy) 7 1/8 x 5 3/16 in (18.1 x 13,18 cm)
George GROSZ "Warfare" 1934 Brush, reed pen and pen and ink on paper 19 x 27 1/16 in. (48,3 x 68,8 cm)
Just as we humans have the propensity to destroy each other, we also have the uncanny capacity to transform strife into life, to dodge death somehow, and at times we leave to posterity works of art that testify to our will to survive.
Welcome to TOTENTANZ, an exhibition featuring works by:
Curt Grosspietsch, George Grosz, Mechthild Hagemann, Erich Heckel, James “Yaya” Hough, Cliff Joseph, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Giovanni Manfredini, Paul McCarthy, Akim Monet, Emil Nolde, Auguste Rodin, and Daniel Spoerri.
Curt GROSSPIETSCH "Der Tod" n.d. Ink on paper 11 5/8 x 15 9/16 in. (29,5 x 39,5 cm)
Mechthild HAGEMANN "Esel, Tod und Tulpen" 2009 Acrylic and oil on canvas 53 9/16 x 73 5/8 in. (136 x 187 cm)
Akim MONET "Le Catacombe dei Cappuccini" 2010 Archival Pigment Print on 100% cotton acid-free watercolor paper 40 x 26 in (101,6 x 66,04)
Auguste RODIN "Châtiment" 1906 Bronze 15 3/4 x 11 13/16 x 6 1/8 in (40 x 30 x 15,5 cm) Ed. 8 + 4AP
Paul McCARTHY "Dead Viking" 1992 Acrylic fur, wood, rubber and found costume 12 x 72 x 24 in (30.4 x 183 x 61 cm)
BOOTH A16
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