F R I E Z E N E W Y O R K : B O O T H B 7

O N T H E

F A B R I C

O F T H E

H U M A N

B O D Y

R I T A A C K E R M A N N

L O U I S E B O U R G E O I S

I S A G E N Z K E N

P A U L M c C A R T H Y

O R G A N I Z E D B Y G I A N N I J E T Z E R

F R I E Z E N E W Y O R K : B O O T H B 7

Attempting to achieve the most lifelike portrayal of the human figure,

Renaissance artists of the 15th and 16th centuries became self-taught anat-

omists by necessity. Later, in the 17th century, anatomy lessons became or-

ganized events, held in lecture rooms that served as theaters for the stu-

dents who assembled for demonstrations. The general public, transfixed by

the wonders and terrors of the body, were permitted to attend upon payment

of an entrance fee.

Centuries later, artists continue their avid exploration of the corpus. This

exhibition — On the Fabric of the Human Body — has been organized to focus

upon the ways in which Rita Ackermann, Louise Bourgeois, Isa Genzken, and

Paul McCarthy have expressed their affinity for the human body in works of

astonishing feeling. While artists in the past quested for accurate, literal

depictions of bones, tendons, veins, and organs, the body in contemporary

art is freed from such scientific implication. It is instead an open field for ar-

tistic interpretation, having radically overcome the distinction of René Des-

cartes, for whom the ideas of mind and body represent two opposing natures

that are rigidly dissimilar from one another. In the work of these artists, the

body is artistically reinvented, transformed into anecdotal evidence; it is an

independent, thought producing “thing,” a fiction in its own right.

The heart consists of chambers and valves. Venous blood is pumped into

the lungs, while oxygen-rich arterial blood is sent to the brain. In anatomi-

cal renderings red and blue are commonly used to show this circulatory flow.

The two colors form a strong antithetical relationship that bears the weight

of innumerous connotations. The spatial organization of On the Fabric of the

Human Body mimics the heart’s chambers organized by colors; it sets up the

hollow, muscular organ as an inhabited theater-like stage, enlivened by a

plot, props, and actors.

Welcoming passersby, Isa Genzken’s mannequins are humanoids devoid

of flesh and blood. Draped in a blue cape, the sitting figure Untitled (2012), is

frozen in time. Often dressed in Genzken’s previously worn clothes, her man-

nequins replicate life-size anatomical depictions of the human body that,

nevertheless, uncannily draw attention to its absent fleshy form.

Louise Bourgeois’s late gouache paintings illustrate her preoccupation

with the relationships of family, with coupling, pregnancy, and child rear-

ing. In works such as The Family (2008) figures are depicted with pendu-

lous breasts, swollen stomachs, the red color bleeding out of their bodies.

Their emphatically sexual characteristics are reminiscent of sculptures

Bourgeois made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which the human

body was reduced to a limbless form — a woman portrayed only by her

belly, breasts, and neck.

Paul McCarthy’s debased and dirtied photographic subjects possess

a unique history; they began as props in his early performances. In the

1990s, McCarthy individually photographed each of these prop-objects,

creating PROPO, a collection of documentation-style images that serve

as a record of the artist ’s dark humor and subversive social critique. In

Candle Erection 1991 (2012), the remains of a birthday celebration are

displayed erect and aroused. Two new paintings by McCarthy further

radicalize the art historical tradition of the beheaded figure. The Head

Of W.S. and The Head Of W.P. (both 2014) evocate transgressions of do-

mestic violence rather than a fall from grace.

In Rita Ackermann’s seminal work World War I I I Around My Skull (1996

– 1997), venous and arterial bloods erupt in a sanguine palette across the

canvas. Vigorously executed in ballpoint pen, a spectrum of chromatic

reds complement hues of suffocating blues. A collage of images drawn

from popular culture are layered over a central hollow figure: different

bunker-like monuments, massive and introverted; a skull-head; an oc-

clusion with pointed dents recalling graphics of battlefields or weather

charts; the melancholic face of a clownish character; and the head of a

horse screaming in despair. Engaging rage, chaos, and fear, the work’s in-

tensity evokes the fluttering palpitations of the human heart. In the more

recent Fire by Days paintings, Ackermann’s bodies are transformed into

an immaterial state. Ethereal figures in cool blues or burning reds hover

above the canvas like genies released from bottles.

Gianni Jetzer, 2014

R I T A

F I R E B Y D A Y S X V I ( D E T A I L )

2 0 1 1

Oil, spray paint and acrylic

on unstretched canvas

353.1 x 264.2 cm / 139 x 104 in

© Rita Ackermann

Photo: Genevieve Hanson

A C K E R M A N N

W O R L D W A R I I I

A R O U N D M Y S K U L L

( D E T A I L )

1 9 9 6 – 1 9 9 7

Acrylic, ballpoint pen,

oil and varnish on linen

137.2 x 132.1 cm / 54 x 52 in

© Rita Ackermann

Photo: Orcutt & Van Der Putten

L O U I S E

B O U R G E O I S

U N T I T L E D

2 0 0 5

Fabric and stainless steel

166 x 39 x 39 cm / 65 3/8 x 15 3/8 x 15 3/8 in

© The Easton Foundation

Photo: Christopher Burke

T H E F A M I L Y

2 0 0 8

Gouache on paper, suite of 36

36.8 x 27.9 cm / 14 ½ x 11 in each

© The Easton Foundation

Photo: Christopher Burke

I S A

G E N Z K E N

U N T I T L E D

2 0 1 2

Mannequin and mixed media

147 x 83 x 99 cm / 57 7/8 x 32 5/8 x 39 in

© Isa Genzken

Photo: Alex Delfanne

U N T I T L E D

2 0 1 2

Mannequin and mixed media

233 x 61 x 76 cm / 91 ¾ x 24 x 29 7/8 in

© Isa Genzken

Photo: Alex Delfanne

P A U L

M C C A R T H Y

C A N D L E E R E C T I O N

1 9 9 1 ( 2 0 1 2 )

Cibachrome on aluminium

183 x 122 cm / 72 x 48 in (unframed)

186.5 x 125 x 4 cm / 73 3/8 x 49 ¼ x 1 5/8 in (framed)

© Paul McCarthy

T H E H E A D O F W . S .

T H E H E A D O F W . P .

2 0 1 4

Acrylic and collage on canvas mounted on board, 2 parts

152 x 152 cm / 59 7/8 x 59 7/8 in, each

© Paul McCarthy

Photo: Frederik Nilsen

H A U S E R & W I R T H

5 1 1 W E S T 1 8 T H S T R E E T

N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 1 1

+ 1 2 1 2 7 9 0 3 9 0 0

3 2 E A S T 6 9 T H S T R E E T

N E W Y O R K , N Y 1 0 0 2 1

+ 1 2 1 2 7 9 4 4 9 7 0

F R I E Z E N E W Y O R K

9 – 1 2 M A Y 2 0 1 4

R A N D A L L ’ S I S L A N D P A R K

B O O T H B 7