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Installation view “Der abscheuliche Kuss” at Kunstverein Dresden
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Installation view “Der abscheuliche Kuss” at Kunstverein Dresden
Exhibition
Der abscheuliche Kuss
4 Sep 2020 – 6 Nov 2020
Regular hours
- Friday
- 16:00 – 20:00
- Saturday
- 12:00 – 16:00
- Thursday
- 16:00 – 20:00
Address
- Neustädter Markt 8
- Dresden
Sachsen bei Ansbach - 01099
- Germany
With the exhibition “Der abscheuliche Kuss” by Sanam Khatibi, Jessie Makinson and Urara Tsuchiya, the Kunstverein Dresden showcases the work by three artists who interrogate historically developed power relations and patterns of thinking which to this day shape perceptions of the supposed Other.
About
The exhibition “Der abscheuliche Kunstverein” draws its title from the 12th-century Latin term “Osculum Infame” (The Shameful Kiss), which was believed to be heretics’ ritual upon meeting the Devil. The Devil was thought to take the form of an animal – a goat or perhaps a black cat – and the kiss was to be given under its tail. During the years of the witch hunts in Europe, the Osculum Infame became a tangible accusation against heretics and witches. Instrumentalised as pretext for the fierce persecution and the demonisation of an Other, it was used against any individuals who transgressed the artificial boundaries between nature and culture, dominance and submission.
The work of the three artists in the exhibition “Der abscheuliche Kuss” – Khatibi, Makinson, and Tsuchiya – precisely explores the wider power dynamics underlying such accusations through an exploration of violence and sensuality across human and animal species. Filled with humour and antagonism, the artists’ paintings, tapestries and ceramics reflect the ambivalence in more-than-human behaviour. As cruelty and care become interchangeable, the scenes present a kind of lust shaped by a constant negotiation between desire and repulsion.
