Jiri Georg Dokoupil
Encyclopedia
Jiri Georg Dokoupil is a contemporary Czech painter. He was member of the artist groups Mülheimer Freiheit and Junge Wilde
, which arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dokoupil lives and works in Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Rio de Janerio and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
, former Czechoslovakia, in 1954. After the invasion of the Soviet army in Prague in 1968, he escaped with his family over Austria to Germany. In 1976 he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cologne
. Later on he also attended classes at the Universities of Frankfurt and the Cooper Union
in New York , where he studied among others under German concept artist Hans Haacke
. The influence of Haacke is evident in Dokoupil‘s early work. From 1983–84 Dokoupil was guest professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Düsseldorf
and 1989 in Madrid
.
In 1979 Dokoupil founded the group Mülheimer Freiheit with artists such as Hans Peter Adamski, Peter Bömmels and Walter Dahn. The group was associated with the art dealer Paul Maenz who organised Dokoupil‘s first solo exhibition in 1982. In their shared studio in Cologne on a street named Mülheimer Freiheit, the six Jungen Wilden
sought to explore a contemporary expression for their art by using a neoexpressive, figurative style of intensely colourful painting with traditional subjects and by overriding the intellectual, reduced formal language of Minimal
and Conceptual Art
. But already in an early stage Dokoupil developed a less wild, rather unusual method of working and soon found his own radical subjective way with individual considerations. With his "book painting" shown at Documenta
7, Kassel
, in 1982, Dokoupil attracted the attention of the art world. It was a gigantic material painting called God, show me your balls, a kind of homage to a Julian Schnabel plate painting, (which were made of broken ceramic dishes collaged into an image). [ Schnabel]], was not invited to participate in the exhibition – in Dokoupil‘s eyes a serious effront. Since then – besides the early group exhibitions with the Mülheimer Freiheit – Dokoupil's work has been seen in numerous one-man shows in galleries, museums and at other cultural sites worldwide.
, Dokoupil never wanted to be subordinated to a personal or a forced style. He never developed a uniform style that would allow the observer to recognize his work. Rather he paraphrases different preceding styles, plays with them and invents new techniques. Only a certain expressivity and his affinity for eroticism may define his world of images. His oeuvre today contains over 60 series and far more than 100 devised techniques or styles. A selection of his series is listed below.
Since 1989 Dokoupil has developed the technique of Soot Paintings, painting projected images with soot of a burning candle onto a blank canvas hanging flat from the ceiling. The Soot Paintings contain different series such as sceneries of art auctions, the Subastas- series, of 1989 or the most recent one called Leopards. For his Tire paintings of 1991–1992, he used freshly colour-dyed rolling tires on predominantly wet, ungrounded canvas. In his Soap Bubble Paintings of 1992-93 he lets soap-bubbles burst on canvas, while the liquid soap is mixed with colour or ink. In 2003 Dokoupil creates Whip Paintings by lashing a cowboy whip, which was stuck in a paint pot before, at the canvas. One of Dokoupil‘s most recent work is the series of spray-painted Buddhas on canvas. They are meant to be like Buddha
, Marilyn
and Mona Lisa
all at once, since Warhol
‘s Marilyn is the Mona Lisa of the 20th century.
Even if a retrospective of his oeuvre would resemble a group show of different painters, it has nothing to do with any pluralism of styles, with the claim of the coincidence of styles, or with a variety of post-modern irony
. The focus of his multifaceted oeuvre is in fact on exploring original techniques and configurations generating a domain for playful experimentation and physical tension in which new images can arise and assuring that the act of making images is independent of the iconographic compulsions of the media world today.
Junge Wilde
The term Junge Wilde was originally applied to trends within the art world, and was only later used with reference to politics...
, which arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dokoupil lives and works in Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Rio de Janerio and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Biography
Jiri Georg Dokoupil was born in KrnovKrnov
Krnov is an Upper Silesian city in the northeastern Czech Republic, in the Moravian-Silesian Region, the District of Bruntál, on the Opava River, near the Polish border....
, former Czechoslovakia, in 1954. After the invasion of the Soviet army in Prague in 1968, he escaped with his family over Austria to Germany. In 1976 he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Later on he also attended classes at the Universities of Frankfurt and the Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
in New York , where he studied among others under German concept artist Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke
Hans Haacke is a German-American artist who lives and works in New York.- Early life :Haacke was born in Cologne, Germany. He studied at the Staatliche Werkakademie in Kassel, Germany, from 1956 to 1960. He was a student of Stanley William Hayter, a well-known and influential English printmaker,...
. The influence of Haacke is evident in Dokoupil‘s early work. From 1983–84 Dokoupil was guest professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and 1989 in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.
In 1979 Dokoupil founded the group Mülheimer Freiheit with artists such as Hans Peter Adamski, Peter Bömmels and Walter Dahn. The group was associated with the art dealer Paul Maenz who organised Dokoupil‘s first solo exhibition in 1982. In their shared studio in Cologne on a street named Mülheimer Freiheit, the six Jungen Wilden
Junge Wilde
The term Junge Wilde was originally applied to trends within the art world, and was only later used with reference to politics...
sought to explore a contemporary expression for their art by using a neoexpressive, figurative style of intensely colourful painting with traditional subjects and by overriding the intellectual, reduced formal language of Minimal
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
and Conceptual Art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
. But already in an early stage Dokoupil developed a less wild, rather unusual method of working and soon found his own radical subjective way with individual considerations. With his "book painting" shown at Documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
7, Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, in 1982, Dokoupil attracted the attention of the art world. It was a gigantic material painting called God, show me your balls, a kind of homage to a Julian Schnabel plate painting, (which were made of broken ceramic dishes collaged into an image). [ Schnabel]], was not invited to participate in the exhibition – in Dokoupil‘s eyes a serious effront. Since then – besides the early group exhibitions with the Mülheimer Freiheit – Dokoupil's work has been seen in numerous one-man shows in galleries, museums and at other cultural sites worldwide.
Works
In accordance with the thesis of Dadaist Marcel DuchampMarcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
, Dokoupil never wanted to be subordinated to a personal or a forced style. He never developed a uniform style that would allow the observer to recognize his work. Rather he paraphrases different preceding styles, plays with them and invents new techniques. Only a certain expressivity and his affinity for eroticism may define his world of images. His oeuvre today contains over 60 series and far more than 100 devised techniques or styles. A selection of his series is listed below.
- Mülheimer Freiheit (1980-1981)
- New School of Cologne (1982)
- Blue Paintings about Love (1982)
- Documenta Paintings (1982)
- Theoretical Paintings (1983)
- Terry Cloth Paintings (1983-1984)
- The Apple Maiden (1984)
- Children Paintings (1983-1985)
- Corporations & Products (1985-1986)
- Madonnas in Ecstasy (1985-1987)
- Esoteric Paintings (1987)
- Jesus Paintings (1986-1987)
- Soot Paintings (1989-today)
- Mother's Milk Paintings (1989-1991)
- Tire Paintings (1991-1992)
- Soap Bubble Paintings (1992-today)
- The Green Paintings (1996)
- Slavic Paintings (1996-1999)
- Pigment Paintings (1998-2002)
- Whip Paintings (2002-2003)
- Buddha Paintings (2003-2004)
- The Arrugadist Paintings (1999-2005)
- Movie Paintings (2007-today)
Since 1989 Dokoupil has developed the technique of Soot Paintings, painting projected images with soot of a burning candle onto a blank canvas hanging flat from the ceiling. The Soot Paintings contain different series such as sceneries of art auctions, the Subastas- series, of 1989 or the most recent one called Leopards. For his Tire paintings of 1991–1992, he used freshly colour-dyed rolling tires on predominantly wet, ungrounded canvas. In his Soap Bubble Paintings of 1992-93 he lets soap-bubbles burst on canvas, while the liquid soap is mixed with colour or ink. In 2003 Dokoupil creates Whip Paintings by lashing a cowboy whip, which was stuck in a paint pot before, at the canvas. One of Dokoupil‘s most recent work is the series of spray-painted Buddhas on canvas. They are meant to be like Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
, Marilyn
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
all at once, since Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
‘s Marilyn is the Mona Lisa of the 20th century.
Even if a retrospective of his oeuvre would resemble a group show of different painters, it has nothing to do with any pluralism of styles, with the claim of the coincidence of styles, or with a variety of post-modern irony
Post-irony
Post-irony is a term alternately used to connote a return from irony to earnestness, or more commonly, a state in which earnest and ironic intents become muddled.Examples of post-ironic artwork include South African band Die Antwoord, and the Werner Herzog film Bad Lieutenant: Port of...
. The focus of his multifaceted oeuvre is in fact on exploring original techniques and configurations generating a domain for playful experimentation and physical tension in which new images can arise and assuring that the act of making images is independent of the iconographic compulsions of the media world today.
Exhibitions
Selected Exhibitions:- Prague Castle Riding School, Praha, 2010
- Galerie Bruno BischofbergerBruno BischofbergerBruno Bischofberger is an art dealer and gallerist from Zurich, Switzerland, and a major figure in the international art market for several decades...
and Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zürich, 2009 - Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, 2008
- DeichtorhallenDeichtorhallenDeichtorhallen, in Hamburg, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911-13 are iconic in style, with their open steel-and-glass structures. It's architecture creates a backdrop for spectacular major international...
, Hamburg, 2005 - National Gallery, PrahaNational Gallery in PragueThe National Gallery in Prague is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, Czech Republic. It is housed in different locations within the city, the largest being the Veletržní Palác....
, 2005 - Haus der Kunst, Brno (Czech republic), 2005
- Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2003
- Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, 2002
- Centraal MuseumCentraal MuseumThe Centraal Museum is a museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1838. Initially, the collection - exhibited on the top floor of the Utrecht townhall - was limited to art related to the city of Utrecht...
, Utrecht, 2002 - Milton Keynes Gallery, Central Milton Keynes, 2002
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaMuseo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofíaThe Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is the official name of Spain's national museum of 20th century art . The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992 and is named for Queen Sofia of Spain...
, Madrid, 2002 - Château de ChenonceauChâteau de ChenonceauThe Château de Chenonceau is a manor house near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. It was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century...
, Chenonceaux, 1999 - Museum Weimar, Weimar, 1997
- Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung LudwigMUMOKMUMOK is the abbreviation of "MUseum MOderner Kunst" Foundation Ludwig Vienna. It is located in the Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria....
, Wien, 1997 - Centre d'Art Contemporain de Fréjus, Fréjus, 1996
- Tony ShafraziTony ShafraziTony Shafrazi is the owner of the Shafrazi Art Gallery in New York, who deals artwork by artists such as Francis Bacon, Keith Haring, and David LaChapelle....
Gallery, New York, 1994 - Sala Amárica, Diputación Foral de Alava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1993
- Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid, 1992
- Horsens Kunstmuseum, Lund, 1991
- Kunsthalle Kiel, Kiel, 1991
- Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 1990
- Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, 1989
- Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, 1987
- Ileana Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1986
- Leo CastelliLeo CastelliLeo Castelli was an American art dealer. He was best known to the public as an art dealer whose gallery showcased cutting edge Contemporary art for five decades...
Gallery, New York, 1985 - Museum FolkwangMuseum FolkwangMuseum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th and 20th century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus in Hagen, founded in 1901.The term...
, Essen, 1984 - Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern, 1984
- Groninger MuseumGroninger MuseumThe Groninger Museum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Groningen, Netherlands.-Background:Although not as well known as other Dutch institutions of fine art, the Groninger Museum was founded in 1894...
, Groningen, 1984 - Espace Lyonnais d'Art Contemporain, Lyon, 1984
- Gallery Mary BooneMary BooneMary Boone is the owner and director of the Mary Boone Gallery and was instrumental in the New York art market of the 1980s...
, New York, 1983 - Galerie Paul Maenz, Köln, 1982