Emotions – what Emotions?

At the end of January, Sietske Roorda introduced statues and sculptures that mould emotions – Sculpting Emotions. In her article, she described suffering, pain, grief, and joy expressed in art. Sculptures move people to tears, paintings fill them with wonder, and installations make them laugh. Just how unique this can be will be on display at the exhibition ‘Eccentric. The Aesthetics of Freedom’ at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

Currently, 50 international artists are showing about 100 works there, moulded emotions from surprising perspectives. They toy with human feelings, distorting and deforming them; they combine differing elements into new creations and turn the familiar upside down, using all the media available today – painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and media art. The non-conventional is the focus here. With this exhibition, curators Eva Karcher and Bernhart Schwenk dare to take a look ‘ex centro’ – a look out of a fictitious centre, out of rigid norms and pigeonholes. They show that it is worth standing up for something uniquely your own – in art, fashion, and design.

Four Topics in Four Chapters

In the four chapters ‘Creatures’, ‘Exalted Cosmos’, ‘Hybrid Beauty’ and ‘Fluid Bodies’, the transgression of norms, openness to different perspectives, and the autonomy of the eccentric can be observed. The diversity and complexity of the individual being, the creative use of technology and materials, and, not least, the concept of beauty and, thus, the versatility and perception of the physical are the centre of attention.

Yes to All?

‘Yes to All’ beckons at the entrance to the exhibition. Sylvie Fleury's neon sign leads the way. We each form the world the way we want it. Is that enough? Without a full stop, exclamation mark, or question mark, Feury's words allow for various interpretations. How to interpret them is left to the viewers to decide. The illuminated writing conveys no moral message, nor does the exhibition at large. ‘Being called flamboyant is by far better than being boring.’ Liberace, a piano-playing fictional character drenched in kitsch, sends his regards – but only at first glance!

Being eccentric means more than quirkiness or decadence. Eccentricity is based on freedom of thought and creative expression: ‘Yes to All’ defies all ideology. What lies beneath is an attitude that eschews any form of control and predictability; an injunction to think more freely, boldly, and open-mindedly, even in unyielding times. The two curators are committed to the bravery of nonconformity. Their aim is to demonstrate that it is worth standing up for something of one's own against every convention and to show that eccentricity is more than just wilfulness. Eccentricity rejects all ideologies, is a social driving force for freedom and tolerance, courageous and liberated, humorous, touching, sad, or disturbing – moulded emotions.

 

Participating artists: Jean-Marie Appriou, Yael Bartana, Christian Bérard, Joseph Beuys, John Bock, Shannon Cartier Lucy, Maurizio Cattelan, Julian Charrière, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Judy Chicago, Salvador Dalí, James Sidney, Ensor, Max Ernst, Jana Euler, EVA & ADELE, Sylvie Fleury, Philipp Fürhofer, Simon Fujiwara, Gelitin, Isa Genzken, Alberto Giacometti, Gilbert & George, Andreas Greiner, Andy Hope 1930, Klará Hosnedlová, Melli Ink, Rashid Johnson, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Jonathan Meese, Orlan, Grayson Perry, Francis Picabia, Paola Pivi, Christina Quarles, Monty Richthofen, Pipilotti Rist, Bunny Rogers, Raqib Shaw, Cindy Sherman, Santiago Sierra, Sophia Süßmilch, Mickalene Thomas, Anna Uddenberg, Andy Warhol, Ambera Wellmann, Issy Wood, Zadie Xa, Lu Yang, Heimo Zobernig.

 

 

 

Accompanying the exhibition, Hirmer Verlag is publishing a comprehensive publication in German and English with essays by the curators, texts about the artists and their works with statements, and images of the works.

This text was originally written by Willy Hafner in German.

The exhibition ‘Eccentric. The Aesthetics of Freedom’ can be seen at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich until 27 April 2025. Further information: https://www.pinakothek-der-moderne.de/ausstellungen/eccentric-aesthetik-der-freiheit/