Otto Dix (1891–1969)

Eu 400. Otto Dix, a prominent artist in the Neue Sachlichkeit (New objectivity) movement created a print series titled Der Krieg: 24 Offsetdrucke nach Originalen aus dem Radierwerk in the 1920s. “Der krieg” in German translates to “the war” in English, and these prints are based on Dix’s memories of the devastating effects of World War I, in which he served as a gunner from 1914–18. The original series contains 51 prints, while this publication features 24 prints and was published by Verlag Karl Nierendorf in Berlin. A selection of the Der Krieg prints was featured in the exhibition Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918–1936 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, October 1, 2010–January 9, 2011.… (mehr)

Pettibon as co-curator of a Dix exhibit, framing Dix's line drawings and paintings with wall paintings of his own. The resulting display a solid presentation of both artists.

Traue deinen Augen -- believe your eyes, adapted as the exhibit title. Pettibon counters Dix with: "It is the heaviest stone that melancholy can throw at a man: a jaundiced eye."

Catalogue of the show, with four essays (Ohrt and Schmidt the strongest):

Kaehler, "Der Durchzug durch das Rote Meer" - briefly explains the idea of inviting Pettibon to co-curate the Dix exhibit, based on the collection at Otto-Dix-Haus in Gera, coinciding with a show Pro Lidice, commemorating "a particularly dreadful atrocity" of the National Socialists. Notes the motif of the Red Sea used by both artists, though Pettibon allegedly unaware of Dix's allusion to this Biblical passage on the obverse of one of his war post cards. "Both artists [Dix and Pettibon] ... cast a critical gaze over the social reality of their time and show a keen sense for its contradictions and black depths without attempting to have themselves inserted within a political program or a particular worldview." [112 of the English translation]

Ruediger, "DIX - 'soveraener Prolete' aus Gera" - conventional approach to an artist's biography, primarily interesting for the profile of the Dix collection at Gera, his home town, and the link to Dix's reception there as well as internationally. "Today, the Gera Art Collection houses and maintains the most comprehensive -- and still most inaccessible -- Dix collection in public hands." [120]

Ohrt, "Westkuste USA, Oestkuste Rotes Meer" - considers Pettibon's work both linked to the Dix collaboration and on his own. Includes many reproductions not included in the Dix exhibit. Discussion of Pettibon's theme of West Coast surf culture and thematic meditation on Dix's social commentary.

Schmidt, "Kuenstler arbeiten im Museum, Ein Nachwort" - musings of the curator. Benefits immensely from the fact it doesn't seem to be assigned any particular task or responsibility, and so says a lot, but not about the exhibit particulars. Pettibon's nonchalant acceptance of the invitation to co-curate, and his joking good-bye to friends upon departing for his installation: "I go to Ki(e)ll".

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Understated design, sensitive to both Dix and Pettibon. My only reservation that some of the Pettibon reproductions are too small to make out the incorporated text, integral to the piece. In many cases, these are clarified in the accompanying essays, and to be fair, the affected Pettibon pieces were not part of the exhibit itself. But overall, an elegant catalogue, careful to provide orientation thumbnail schematics to clarify where in the exhibit space the individual pieces were arranged, large-scale pictures showing the way the Dix pieces fit into Pettibon's wall decorations, and detail views of individual pieces.

Pettibon's biographical timeline apparently written up himself: Raymond "The Jackal" Pettibon, with entries like:

1972 Inhaled.
1973-76 The lost years.
1976 Exhaled.… (mehr)