01 Nov 2013

Jake and Dinos Chapman exhibition / Galerie Rudolfinum

Jake and Dinos Chapman at Galerie Rudolfinum
The Blind Leading the Blind

Galerie Rudolfinum is pleased to present an solo exhibition by leading British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman entitled The Blind Leading the Blind. The exhibition, which presents an overview of works created from the 1990s to the present day, is the largest-ever exhibition by these two artists in Central Europe. 'The Prague exhibition of the Chapman brothers is unique in that it presents older works in a new context, meaning that their new installation offers the possibility of creating a new point of view and the opportunity for new interpretations,' says curator Otto M. Urban.

In five thematic units divided up into the various exhibition rooms, the exhibition presents sculptures, objects, paintings, drawings, and etchings. In these installations, sculptures, paintings, and drawings, the Chapman brothers use cynical and sarcastic humor to call attention to today's depraved political, social, religious, and moral state of affairs.

In terms of subject matter, the various cycles touch on themes that the Chapman brothers have been working with since the beginning of their artistic career. One fundamental influence in their work is their inspiration by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya, and the exhibition presents the brothers' 83 etchings of bold and distinctive variations on Goya's famous cycle The Disasters of War.

One important element in their art, which the Chapmans have been working with since the 1990s, is the 'study' of mutant mannequins, genetically mutated figures through which they explore the boundaries of generally accepted morality and try to provoke a change in the perception of ingrained gender and sexual stereotypes. At the Galerie Rudolfinum, this series of works is represented by libidinal objects of Siamese beings and figures of children with distinctive phallic and other symbols on their faces.

Another important theme in the art of the Chapman brothers is Nazism and fascism. The cycle exhibited at the Rudolfinum offers a precipitous look at the transhistorical concept of 'absolute evil' symbolized by the Nazis and the horrors of the Holocaust. The monumental installation consisting of two dozen Nazi figures was specially adapted for the needs of the Galerie Rudolfinum.

The Prague exhibition also features a sarcastic excursion into the anthropological world of fetishes in contemporary society, represented by bronze sculptures resembling a collection of African art, in which we discover the corporate logos of fast-food restaurant chains.

Not even intimate aspect of life such as sex and death are taboo for the Chapmans, whose objects with these titles uniformly evoke shocked reactions. The collection of sculptures is supplemented by a series of drawings.