Press release February 2009

Exile on Main St.

17 February – 16 August 2009

The exhibition Exile on Main St. brings together the work of nine American artists – seasoned mavericks who care nothing for the rules of the market, much less the rules of art. They have chosen the path of uncompromising freedom.

The exhibition is a celebration of that freedom. It demands a good cigar. The acrobat stands for freedom. He has broken free from banality, and his limberness is a challenge to those trussed, hidebound souls that populate the ordinary world. Yet cigars and acrobatics are normally incompatible.

In the world of gyms and workouts, cigars are gatecrashers; and there is no place for acrobatics in the world of art. Confronted long ago with this dilemma, the exhibiting artists decided to throw rigid convention overboard – for the gatecrashers were soon the life and soul of the party. The art market turned up its nose. Glossy hype was the order of the day, and the mainstream clung greedily to profit-friendly convention.

How times have changed.... Government and high finance have swapped places, and it is now the turn of bankers to grovel in the margin, with a cortège of demolished dreams and bruised burghers in their wake.

The art world is coming down to earth with a bang – for it has been engaging in much the same virtual, self-indulgent practices as the financial sector, and not a few of its cheques have bounced. Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but these days not all girls will find them so sexy.

At a time like this, it can do no harm to highlight a group of artists who have always deemed inner necessity more important than outward appearance, even if this has been a barrier to their success. Exile on Main St. is an attempt to rediscover art that has remained untainted by hype and market forces. And this means venturing into the lion's den – for the cradle of mainstream convention is the United States.

The title of the exhibition reveals a quest for purity, which in itself is nothing new in art. But this time the path chosen is not 'art for art's sake', or unspoiled youth, or the fresh exoticism of Africa or China.

On the contrary, we have encountered artists who have spent a lifetime getting their hands dirty or seeking conflict, if only to give free rein to their unruliness and their carnality. Visitors should therefore not be surprised by anything they see.

The keynotes are humour, eroticism and overkill. Spirituality is changing demurely behind a screen.

You can download the original press release here

Beeldmateriaal

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	Alfred Jensen, A Glorious Circle, 1959, Oil on canvas, 4 panels, Courtesy Pace Wildenstein Foto Pace Wildenstein
	Joe Zucker, Sail #32, 2008 Latex, pencil, charcoal on paper and card board tube, (variable height) Courtesy of the artist Foto Peter Cox
	Peter Saul, Chinese Businessman Lands on Wall Street, 2006 Acrylic on canvas, Private collection, New York
	Artschwager, Untitled, 1995, Wood, metal, screws and formica, Courtesy Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers, Berlin/London
	Foto Peter Cox
	© © Harry Heuts / Bonnefantenmuseum.
	Wesley, The Last Fish, 1974, Acrylic on canvas Particuliere collectie
	William Copley, Statue of Liberty, 1984 Oil on canvas, Private collection, Bavaria
	Tweddle, Poem, 1971, Acrylic on canvas, Private collection Foto Peter Cox
	Steve Gianakos, Untitled, 1998, Mixed media on paper Foto Peter Cox
	Artschwager, Table Prepared in the Presence of Enemies II, 1992 Wood, metal, screws and formica Courtesy Monika Sprüth Philomena Magers, Londen/Berlijn
	Westermann, Machine, 1977, Pine, copper, aluminium alkyd enemal, oak, and metal screws, Lennon, Weinberg Gallery, New York