2016–2017
FBI. Fassbinder, Beuys + I
Photomontage, Cyanotype, Screen Print and Carborundum Etching. Original photos by Helga Kneidl
During a visit to Berlin photographer Helga Kneidl, I stumbled upon the photo negatives of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Joseph Beuys, whom she had portrayed in 1977 and 1983 at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus. Feeling a kind of spiritual kinship with both artists, I decided to acquire the photos for artistic reworking. These photographs and my own family photos formed the basis for this project.
What do Fassbinder and Beuys have in common? One might say: the unity of lived life and their art, the tireless demand for freedom, and unconventional methods and approaches in pursuing their ideals and ideas. Both artists have accompanied me throughout my life, influencing my thinking and artistic work. FBI is the beginning of an imaginary friendship, an attempt at rapprochement with an uncertain outcome.
For Joseph Beuys, the cross is a symbol of the power of individual freedom. The symmetrical cross represents wholeness, where two formally equal but oppositely arranged elements unite into a greater form in harmony — unisono.
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition. ISBN: 978-3-00-056819-0