Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Tal R »Es gibt sie noch die Dinge«

Es gibt sie noch die Dinge, 2018

It was for the first time that the three internationally renowned artists Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter and Tal R have worked together on the occasion of a joint exhibition at Kunsthaus Stade. The exhibition tour, which led via Holstebro (DK) and Stade (GER) to Espoo (FIN), represents a rare cooperation that thrived on collegiality and friendship.

In the run-up to the stop-over in Holstebro, Meese, Richter and Tal R slipped into costumes to become octopus, shark and shrimp for a moment. Photographs show a cheerful and artistically productive togetherness as animalistic alter egos. The three marine animals were continued in many ways in the exhibition at the Kunsthaus. Shark, octopus and shrimp are now permanently united in a limited edition.

The artists have made a nearly 30 cm high sculpture from small plastic animals, which is crowned by a glass inkwell. The things, they still exist is the title of the edition, ironically referring to the trend in recent years among a very specific clientele to return to good old quality products for which Manufactum – “The Department Store of Good Things” - has become synonymous. A 3D scan was required to produce the unusual figure as an edition of 47 copies in the intended aesthetics of a rococo porcelain figure.

The actual production took place in a 3D printing process with two different finishes and a final varnishing in porcelain white. The total print run required 3,000 hours of production time. An individual application of acrylic spray paint by the artists makes the edition pieces unique and a work of art that reflects on the collaboration among these three exceptional artists.

Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Tal R

The work of Jonathan Meese (* 1970) belongs to the tradition of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) and includes the media of painting, sculpture, installation, performance, drawing, collage and theatre. Meese draws his subjects from amongst the heroes and anti-heroes of global history as well as from mythology, film and popular culture. In doing so he develops a “dictatorship of art” that understands art as a liberating parallel universe.

Daniel Richter (* 1962) is one of the key protagonists of the contemporary German art scene. Richter’s work is marked by a stylistic complexity and adaptability. He experiments across a broad spectrum, testing the limits of painting through his constant examination of socio-political reality.

Tal R (* 1967) is one of the important artistic figures of his generation. He works on his unconventional narratives with seemingly inexhaustible energy and creativity. Below their apparently harmless surfaces his paintings, sculptures, graphic works and ceramics deal with revealing interpretations of the unconscious and suppressed aspects of life.