Chrysanne Stathacos
Pause: AA Bronson’s Garten der Lüste
April 26, 2018–April 29, 2018KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Featuring AA Bronson / Collaborations with Adrian Hermanides, Mark Jan Krayenhoff van de Leur, Travis Meinolf, James Richards, and Scott Treleave / Performances with Spencer Carter, Michael Dudeck, Richard John Jones, Ebe Oke, and Chrysanne Stathacos / Additional works by Elijah Burgher, TM Davy, Sholem Krishtalka, Chrysanne Stathacos and introducing: JX Williams
AA Bronson’s Garten der Lüste—a 5-day hybrid installation featuring performances and artworks—will inaugurate KW’s second exhibition season of 2018 as part of its Pause series. Pause is envisioned as a platform to punctuate the program by presenting a singular installation for a short period of time in order to bridge relationships between the past, present and future.
AA Bronson (born 1946, Vancouver) is both artist and curator, subject and object. In this project, Bronson continues his practice of enfolding his community of artists within his own performances and artworks. The project takes Hieronymus Bosch’s famous painting The Garden of Earthly Delights (circa 1500) as its starting point. To analyze Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych is an attempt to describe the indescribable and to decipher the indecipherable—an exercise in madness. The project could be seen as a queer adaptation that executes this madness through various spirits and universes.
A pioneer of collaborative and queer visual art practice, AA Bronson is the sole surviving member of the art collective General Idea (1969–94). He has had a long history with political and social issues in art and publishing, and has collaborated with many generations of artists across many disciplines. He is a founder of FILE Magazine, Toronto; Art Metropole, Toronto; The NY Art Book Fair, New York; The Institute for Art, Religion and Social Justice, New York; and AA Bronson’s School for Young Shamans, which is nomadic. In the last decades he has knitted elements from various religions into his work, from Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism to Ceremonial Magic, and Santería.
Tent for Healing
The Tent for Healing invites visitors to one-on-one sessions on the subject of healing. On Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27 from 11 am to 2 pm, the sessions will be held with artist AA Bronson, with Richard John Jones assisting. On Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 from noon to 3 pm, sessions will be held with artist Richard John Jones with Spencer Carter assisting. If you would like to join a session, please send an email to reservation@kw-berlin.de, and write a few sentences (in English) why you would like to join the session. If you are chosen for one of the sessions, you will be asked to bring a gift for the artist, something that is difficult for you to give away.
Director and curator: Krist Gruijthuijsenv
Assistant curator: Maurin Dietrich
AA Bronson’s Garten der Lüste will be on view only throughout Gallery Weekend Berlin (April 26–29, 2018). Simultaneously, Esther Schipper, Berlin presents Catch me if you can! AA Bronson + General Idea, 1968–2018 from April 26 through May 26, 2018.
