Richard Prince. Super Group

About

For his first solo exhibition with Galerie Max Hetzler, Richard Prince presents a selection of works that form part of a series titled Super Group. Referring to a music group which consists of band members that are already successful and famous from previous projects, a supergroup embodies in a pointedly way the iconic and individualistic spirit inherent in Western rock and pop culture.

Akin to his ongoing interest in American high and low culture, Prince integrates elements of and references to music culture to the works exhibited. Playing with the sense and texture of collage, painting and printing, these recent canvases include actual or scanned and printed record sleeves, stapled and glued onto the surface as well as photos, posters, magazine covers, some even contain real bras along with images of such (perhaps hinting at a two person rock band called Black Bra that Prince once was part of). Paint and oil stick are seemingly rapidly applied, covering parts of the collaged surface and canvas while leaving others empty so that the underlying plane stays visible, creating an impression of depth through overlapping layers. 

Throughout these paintings, Prince refers to his own earlier work. Single figures from his Hippie Drawings, a series created in the early 2000s, re-appear in many of the new paintings, often printed on canvas, cut out and attached to the surface, at times also painted, alongside scribbled names of famous bands and singers, song titles and lyrics can be found. Elements such as rubber bands, DVD and CD labels that form important means of some of Prince's previous series clearly make reference to his artistic practice.

With this manner of self-appropriation, Prince carries his approach of quoting others and questioning ideas of authorship and copyright to a level where he assembles and recontextualises his own work, becoming both source and user. At the same time, the exhibited paintings continue the artist's ongoing engagement with questions of identity, myths and stardom in American culture, making Super Group an amalgamation of key aspects of Prince's oeuvre.

Richard Prince was born 1949 in the Panama Canal Zone, he lives and works in Upstate New York. Prince's work has been exhibited in numerous solo shows in international institutions, such as Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz (2014); Picasso Museum, Malaga (2012); Le Consortium, Dijon (2011); Serpentine Gallery, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (both 2008); Guggenheim Museum, New York (2007); Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich (2002); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2001); MAK, Vienna (2000) and Haus der Kunst, Munich (1996). He was included in the Biennale di Venezia in 2003 and 2007 as well as the Whitney Biennial in 1985, 1987, 1997 and 2004. Prince's work is part of major collections, such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London and Victoria and Albert Museum, London among others.