One year ago

Decadens now! Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague 2010

Panorama pictures from here:

Decadence NOW! Visions of Excess is an international project that works with the concept of decadence in contemporary art. Decadence is a theme which is topical in current culture, or better yet, it is once again topical. The apocalyptic feeling of ruin and crisis of our civilization incites the increased interest in the dark side of humans and of the world itself.

Parts of the exhibition with artists involved:

Excess of the Self: Pain
Matthew Barney, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Gilbert & George, Gottfried Helnwein, Damien Hirst, Jürgen Klauke, Robert Mapplethorpe, Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie, Pierre et Gilles, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Sterzing, Joel-Peter Witkin, David Wojnarowicz

Excess of the Body: Sex
Nobuyoshi Araki, Marc Bijl, Wim Delvoye, Martin Gerboc, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jeff Koons, Niba, ORLAN, Jan van Oost, Pierre et Gilles, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Géza Szöllősi, Tsang Kin-Wah, Joel-Peter Witkin

Excess of the Beauty: Pop
Boaz Arad, Ondřej Brody, Jiří Černický, David Černý, Gilbert & George, Martin Gerboc, Gottfried Helnwein, Zsófia Keresztes, Nick Knight, Alexander Kosolapov, David LaChapelle, Zbigniew Libera, Alexander McQueen, Robert Miller, Yasumasa Morimura, NIBA, Shimon Okshteyn, Erwin Olaf, ORLAN, Pierre et Gilles, Jamie Reid, Terry Rodgers, Comenius Roethlisberger, Paolo Schmidlin, Géza Szöllősi, Mark Ther, Maciej Toporowicz, Joel-Peter Witkin

Excess of the Mind: Madness
David Bailey & Damien Hirst, Matthew Barney, Josef Bolf, Gottfried Helnwein, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jürgen Klauke, Joachim Luetke, Ikuko Miyazaki, Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie, Zhang Peng, Joel-Peter Witkin

Excess of the Life: Death
Steven Gregory, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Václav Jirásek, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jan van Oost, Ivan Pinkava, Joel-Peter Witkin

Decadens now! Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague

Decadence Now! Visions of Excess

Curator: Otto M. Urban

The Decadence Now! Visions of Excess is the international exhibition project which works with the concept of decadence in current art. The exhibition is not divided chronologically, but thematically into sequential sections which fluently and logically relate to each other, and which also create a sort-of imaginary closing circle.

During the past several yeas, the concepts of decadence have begun to appear more and more in art theory, often in relation to current art. The commonness of the concept of decadence, or its parallel existence outside of the sphere of art, also enables new methodological processes and combinations, and discovers new territories and relationships. Decadent art is excessive, it exceeds the level of what is generally acceptable, and it provocatively demolishes the most sensitive taboos. Decadence is also firmly connected to the clear stance of outsider individualism.

My Pets

Cow No. 5, (black) 2010, taxidermied cow head, d: 50 cm

Decadence Now! Visions of Excess, Galerie Rudolfinum and
“Room No. 13,” in the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague

Decadens now! Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague

Project Flesh: My Loves - Min from China II, 2010, animal flesh, formaldehyde, glass, 52x25x36 cm

Decadence Now! Visions of Excess in Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague

Curator: Otto M. Urban

Decadence is a highly relevant subject in contemporary culture, or rather, one which is relevant once more. The apocalyptic sense of ruin and crisis within our civilisation has inspired a heightened interest in the dark side of both the human soul and of the world as such. From the 1970s onwards, one may observe a continuous attempt to address archetypal decadent themes in a wide range of artists, among them Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Nobuyoshi Araki, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Damien Hirst, Zhang Peng, Keith Haring, Andres Serrano, Ivan Pinkava, JiřiÅL Černický, Gilbert & George, Gottfried Helnwein, Josef Bolf, Jürgen Klauke and others. In this respect there is also a visible increase of interest on the part of both scholars and the general public. Exhibitions presenting works of decadent art generate an enthusiastic response as well as provoking scandal. However, they invariably open further debate on many key themes such as alienation, repugnance, beauty, hallucination, death, pornography, violence, drugs, disease, or madness, questions which inform and underline numerous issues in contemporary culture and society.