Jeff Koons, best known for his gigantic coloured steel balloon animals and porno-esque trashy photography has truly set the bar on what they call the 'Neo-Pop' art movement; in my opinion a fabulous infusion of weird and wonderful randomness with a hefty dollop of decadence.
To me this egotistical art raver is right at one end of the 'Happy/Sad Art' spectrum; there's no pain, no grief, no wallowing in despair then producing something from it. It's joyful, bright, superficial, no-holds barred, 'pretty' art. I just LOVE it. So what's at the other end? Well if Koons' work is the Antichrist of 'Work borne of pain', then the Prinzhorn Collection surely is the embodiment. When one speaks of work they have made, that's been influenced by a bad spell in their life, I view this as tame compared to say.. an actual mental disorder? This is not a bad spell, but, in it's most extreme form, a disease, a plague of the mind. Truly the short straw in God's great handout. The Prinzhorn Collection epitomizes this work as it is a collection of over 5000 works from mental patients at the beginning of the 19th Century. What better than to define 'Work borne of pain', than this collection, (originally art-therapy): literally borne of pain?
There is an infinite number of artists, movements, ideas, pieces, works and theories that make up the Prinzhorn - Koons Spectrum; in my humble opinion, ranging from the extent to which human suffering has influenced the work, and how far it has not. Stay tuned to find out more!
There is an infinite number of artists, movements, ideas, pieces, works and theories that make up the Prinzhorn - Koons Spectrum; in my humble opinion, ranging from the extent to which human suffering has influenced the work, and how far it has not. Stay tuned to find out more!
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