Things are rarely literal in the art world and my first thoughts at the Lüttgenmeijer gallery were confusion. What is this all about? The reason for this was a number of mistakes made on my part. Firstly trying to connect the title to the works on the wall, secondly not realising the whole room was in on it and finally thinking too literally!

Lateral thinking

The work on the wall is not the only part of “Pushy Kisser” instead the exhibition is about the whole space. It is the room which is the pushy kisser by forcing the viewer to look at the work in a certain way due to its layout. The beauty of this is its subtlety. It’s not obvious at first that the works are deliberately on just one wall and you are forced to sit so close to the pieces that they are right up in your face. These subtle tricks also make the viewer miss certain other aspects.

Keep your eyes peeled

I spy….rubber gloves, aprons, trousers, a top and…more rubber gloves. These aren’t your everyday clothes, what links them is work. They are protective clothing used in domestic work and from an artist’s point of view they are used to create art. Longly has created the colourful wall hangings out of the objects he creates with. What I don’t spy is some men’s hair products hiding under the seat in the middle of the room. After noticing them I spent a long time wondering if they were part of the exhibition or left there by mistake. But nothing in an exhibition is accidental so moved on to wondering what they meant!

Homemade art

The exhibition feels quite homemade. Anyone who has ruined their clothes in the washing machine or tried their hand at tie-dying might feel the same way! The materials used are familiar, even domestic and the wall hangings appear unique. They are not all pristine and perfect but look a bit trial and error like many “projects” people try at home. Those “projects” that look amazing in your head but never go quite according to plan…when I say people I mean myself! Yet these look good all together, even the yellow hanging which has indeterminable prints and so seems to have gone wrong. Maybe this is saying something about the process of creation! 

Heres one I made earlier
 

Talking of creating, I remembered something I had made in the morning and head across the road into the Schlosspark Bellevue next to the river Spree to eat my creation…great sandwich and a lovely place for a picnic!

• Lüttgenmeijer “Pushy Kisser” George Henry Longly, February 24th – April 14th 2012, Tue – Sat: 12pm – 6pm

Read our exclusive Artletter

Painting by Catrin Walz Stein

Subscribe to receive the most awe-inspiring stories from ArtParasites, only available by ArtLetter.

Be the first to write a comment.