Elke Krystufek’s “The Sex is in the Text” is open at Galerie Nicola von Senger in Zürich. The show features paintings created this year alongside works dating back as far as 1992.
Elke Krystufek, Your Dream is Real, 2009.
Krystufek is entrenched in the idiosyncratic struggle between sex, art and money. Her work warns that when a portion of the triad breaks down the remnants are left to fend for themselves. When communication lines are severed new words arise to bridge the gap. The thoughtful determination of these relevant idioms delineates the path to growth. Krustufek eloquently reminds us, “We need to talk again.”
Elke Krystufek, This is Hardcore, 1998.
I enjoyed the statement by the artist that serves also as the press release for the exhibition. Contact with the media is by necessity dry and to the point but the extravagance displayed in this document caught my attention. It reduces a boundary that exists merely to comfort the participants.
“…No, this sort of thing doesn’t actually belong in a press release, I just wanted to seduce you to buy one of my works. With my charm, my evening gown and my biography, I wanted to seduce you into buying a painting from me. You can google me and you can see just how much I’ve accomplished in the last 20 years, what I’m still accomplishing and how much I’ll accomplish next year. I’m a good investment because I work for you. In my evening gown. The price of the evening gown is included in the painting, one evening gown per painting…”
Elke Krystufek
Elke Krystufek, Liquid Logic + Atlant, 2007.
Elke Krystufek
The Sex is in the Text
16 May – 11 July 2009
Galerie Nicola von Senger
Zürich
Read the complete press release after the jump.
Elke Krystufek: Der Sex ist im Text
I’ll say it straight away – SEX is something special. You won’t agree with me. Nevertheless language is also in a perpetual state of flux and the number of women who play a part in determining the language that we speak is increasing. The number is growing just as women’s bodies in general have been designed for expansion and reproduction. To put your sperm inside here, that is man’s desire. Still in 2009, impressed with towers, the money machine is falling apart unfortunately but reproduction remains. We need to talk again. We have to talk about how we solve this problem with the MONEY. No more quick promises, we want the realities. Invest more in real estate, but then the endless new properties stand empty, therefore we need paintings to fill these properties with meaning. Or refugees. Migrants are always grateful for the large number of empty real estate speculation projects. How much space does a person need and can he pay for it? Can he pay for the image of a person. So you pay me for my picture. No, this sort of thing doesn’t actually belong in a press release, I just wanted to seduce you to buy one of my works. With my charm, my evening gown and my biography, I wanted to seduce you into buying a painting from me. You can google me and you can see just how much I’ve accomplished in the last 20 years, what I’m still accomplishing and how much I’ll accomplish next year. I’m a good investment because I work for you. In my evening gown. The price of the evening gown is included in the painting, one evening gown per painting, No, you mustn’t pay for my dinner, that is always the question, who’s paying whom, who is the better conversationalist, are you getting on my nerves or are you seducing me into your beautiful collector’s world – how well you can describe the works in your collection – now you have to come out at the table, provide information, to a woman, yes, to a woman, but you could buy one of the silent paintings, they only demand something from you once, then they leave you more or less in peace for the rest of your life, and I and my gallery owners work for their value, that’s ultimately actually a part of your value. That’s how you and I both become more valuable. Why don’t I tell you anything about the women? Since when have you had an interest in women – I mean genuinely? An interest in their biographies and needs? You have one to show? Fair enough perhaps my woman appeals to your wife? Perhaps your wife sees herself in my woman? These days women participate in the decision making with a purchase or are you a self employed woman? Then you certainly understand how difficult it is to earn money under certain circumstances. No, you say, for you it is quite easy, I am a collector and I come from Hannover. A filly. In most cases a horse costs more than a painting, unless you just want to eat the horse. No, the painting you can’t eat, even if you’re very hungry. SEX helps to get through of few days of fasting, but then it gets serious.
Elke Krystufek, April 2009
Within its belly, the owl features a smaller, identical owl, which in turn features another owl.