Christian Jankowski: April 29

Christian Jankowski
Wednesday, April 29, 6:30pm
The New School
John Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street

German artist Christian Jankowski works in a variety of media including video, installation, performance, photography and sculpture, often confounding reality and fiction, while typically engaging the subjects of his works in the creative process. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with a diverse variety of characters, often humorous, all of whom have appeared in his work. In 1997, Jankowski consulted a therapist about his "creative block", and produced a video piece from the ensuing therapy sessions called Desperately Seeking Artwork. His piece Telemistica was created for the Venice Biennale in 1999 when Jankowski called Italian fortunetellers on their live television shows and asked them questions about his artwork. Their responses and prophesies were video-taped and became the content of the work of art. In these two cases, as in others, the artist's work ends up being about its own creation. Currently, Public Art Fund is presenting Jankowski's Living Sculptures at Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park; a trio of life-sized, bronze figures modeled after three professional street performers the artist observed and selected in Barcelona who regularly present themselves as the likenesses of a Roman legionnaire referred to as "Caesar", the revolutionary leader Che Guevara, and an enigmatic woman inspired by Salvador Dali's figure known as "The Anthropomorphic Cabinet Woman." The human scale and figurative representation of the sculptures beckon viewers to come closer, consider whether they are real street performers or statues, pose next to them for photos, and perhaps even leave a few coins in appreciation.

http://www.publicartfund.org/pafweb/talks/talks_current.htm