Edward Kienholz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Kienholz, photographed by Lothar Wolleh (1970)

Edward Kienholz (born October 23, 1927 in Fairfield , Washington ; † June 10, 1994 Hope , Idaho ) was an American object and conceptual artist . He is considered one of the leading neodadaist artists who have made the step from the Dadaist environment to the assembly of objects.

Life

In the 1950s, Kienholz, who never attended an art academy and was therefore largely self-taught , began his artistic work with wooden reliefs, he gradually switched to three-dimensionality.

His materials are objets trouvés , but in his case they can also be called objets cherchés, since he specifically looked for objects for his art at flea markets. It was important for him to combine his environments into one unit with the help of varnish or paint. Effects such as light or noise also play a major role in his works of art. In contrast to other Pop Art artists , Kienholz repeatedly addressed socially critical issues such as racial discrimination, violence, the oppression of women and the Vietnam War in his works.

In his works he alluded to the subjects of birth control, equal opportunities and discrimination, the superficiality and double standards of the citizens, but also to the wasteful carelessness in American society and spoke of taboo topics such as rape, the consequences of the war, the elderly, the sick and the handicapped by society to be left alone. One example is the large, room-filling tableau “The portable war memorial ” (originally: “Portable War Memorial”) from 1968. Here he placed the national icons Kate Smith, Uncle Sam and the soldiers of the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington in a context of propaganda machinery and consumer society. It should be noted here that Kienholz is more of a moralist than a social critic. - He doesn't judge, he shows!

Ed Kienholz was married four times when he met Nancy Reddin ; he stayed with her for the rest of his life. Nancy was also involved in Ed's art and since their collaboration, the works have also been signed with her name as Edward & Nancy Kienholz . This equalization of several artists who had worked on a joint work was new and revolutionary at the time.

In 1957 he opened a picture gallery in Los Angeles , the Ferus Gallery. In 1968 and 1972 Kienholz took part in the 4th documenta and the Documenta 5 in Kassel .

Since 1973 he, Nancy and their three children spent the summer months in Hope, Idaho and the winter months in Berlin , where he was a guest of the Berlin artist program de DAAD in 1973 . In 1974 Edward Kienholz took part in ADA campaigns by the avant-garde in Berlin.

In 1977 he opened the Faith and Charity in Hope Gallery . From the 1970s onwards, he only carried out his concept tableaux works to order. In 1989 in Düsseldorf , he and Nancy presented their works in the Städtische Kunsthalle in the Kienholz 1980’s exhibition . In 1996 and 1997 his work was shown in a retrospective in New York and Berlin.

Kienholz was buried in his Packard with a dollar in his pocket, a bottle of red wine, and an urn with his dog's ashes .

Awards

Works (selection)

  • John Doe , 1959
  • Jane Doe , 1960
  • Boy, Son of John Doe , 1961
  • It Takes Two To Integrate , Cha Cha Cha, 1961
  • Roxys , 1961–62, Environment Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen
  • The Illegal Operation , 1962
  • Bunny, Bunny, You're So Funny , 1962
  • Back Seat Dodge'38 , 1964
  • The Birthday , 1964
  • The Beanery , 1965
  • The Volksempfänger , series
  • The State Hospital , 1966
  • The Portable War Memorial , 1968. Environment 285 × 240 × 950 cm. Cologne, Museum Ludwig
  • Five Car Stud , 1972
  • Still Live , 1974
  • The Art Show , 1972–77, Berlinische Galerie
  • Sollie 17 , 1979-80
  • The Ozymandias Parade , 1985
  • The Merry-Go-World Or Begat By Chance And The Wonder Horse Trigger , 1988–1992
  • All Have Sinned In Room 323 , 1992
  • Jody Jody Jody , 1994 (last finished work)

Exhibitions (selection)

literature

  • W. Hopps (Ed.): Kienholz retrospective . New York / Los Angeles / Berlin 1997. Prestel Verlag, ISBN 3-7913-1771-7
  • Hans Werner Schmidt: Edward Kienholz "The Portable War Memorial" . Frankfurt 1988, ISBN 3-596-23948-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ADA 1 and 2
  2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schirn.de
personal data
SURNAME Kienholz, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kienholz, Ed
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American object and concept artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Fairfield , Washington
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1994
Place of death Hope , Idaho