Erik Levine
As a Matter of Fact
19 May - 24 Sep 2017
ERIK LEVINE
As a Matter of Fact
19 May – 24 September 2017
Curator: Andreas Beitin
Opening: Thu 05/18/2017, 7 pm
What makes a man a ‘real’ man? What do rituals of masculinity involve, how do men face up to the challenges they pose, how do they deal with failure? The American artist Erik Levine (*1960 Los Angeles) analyzes our society and its norms, rituals, and masculine stereotypes in his video works. With empathy but nonetheless uncompromising, Levine circles in on the relationship between life and death, social norms, idealized images and stark reality. Far from being documentary, Levine’s videos approach their subjects with striking and telling images as well as intensive sounds: the sport training drills adolescent boys are pushed through, the tenderness with which men prepare their gamecocks for battle in the arena, the stoically performed work in a slaughterhouse, or the decline and imminent death in an old age home.
As a Matter of Fact
19 May – 24 September 2017
Curator: Andreas Beitin
Opening: Thu 05/18/2017, 7 pm
What makes a man a ‘real’ man? What do rituals of masculinity involve, how do men face up to the challenges they pose, how do they deal with failure? The American artist Erik Levine (*1960 Los Angeles) analyzes our society and its norms, rituals, and masculine stereotypes in his video works. With empathy but nonetheless uncompromising, Levine circles in on the relationship between life and death, social norms, idealized images and stark reality. Far from being documentary, Levine’s videos approach their subjects with striking and telling images as well as intensive sounds: the sport training drills adolescent boys are pushed through, the tenderness with which men prepare their gamecocks for battle in the arena, the stoically performed work in a slaughterhouse, or the decline and imminent death in an old age home.