At the start of her career in New York in the 1990’s, Nicole Eisenman became interested in German “hero” paintings of the 1980’s (e.g. George Baselitz), leaving behind the traditions of minimalist and conceptual art, and positioning herself at the margin of the dominating artistic movements of the time.
Hilarious and grotesque, dramatic and violent, her drawings and paintings feature different series of outrageous combinations, borrowing as much from Rubens as from R. Crumb. By re-interpreting classic genre and historic paintings, the American artist re-explores art history (from Titian to Picasso by way of Hogarth), offering up her very own vernacular version filled with references to popular culture (from folk art to underground comic books, from horror films to porno films).
Conceived in collaboration with the Kunsthalle in Zürich, this exhibition brings together a large number of drawings and paintings from the 90’s to today, as well as installations created specifically for the exhibition. These consist of various works on different paper formats (from loose sheets to notebooks to complex compositions inspired by the Italian Renaissance) alongside paintings of genre scenes, portraits, collages and objects.
Curators:
Caroline Bourgeois, Artistic Director of the Plateau
Beatrix Ruf, Director of the Kunsthalle in Zurich