Nancy Dwyer, Hot Mess

But not only – her works derive from song lyrics, slang, courtroom jargon (or the televised version thereof), the names of network channels, colloquialisms, idioms. Words are the basis of everything Nancy Dwyer does – words rooted in what has become the mass media vernacular of how we understand American culture. In painting, sculpture, works on paper and animation, Dwyer makes words as images, coaxes meaning – or what poses as meaningful – out of them. In Hot Mess (2024), also the title of the show, the two words replace the 20th Century Fox logo, painted on a curved wooden board installed on a television mount. In the sculpture Big Ego (1990), the letters E, G and O are blown-up larger than life. The painting Kick It (1991) spins the popular Tribe Called Quest song out of control – Can I Kick It? Yes You Can. Can I Think It? Yes You Can. Can I Smell It? Yes You Can. Etc., etc., etc.

Dwyer’s work is often associated with a group of artists named The Pictures Generation, a term coined by Douglas Crimp after the show Pictures he curated at Artists Space, New York, in 1977. Crimp outlined the common interests of this group as drawing from newspapers, advertisements, films and television to analyze these media as signifiers of reality. Artists pronounced a new order, an order of simulation, of the double, in which no original could be distinguished. The hijacking of the seductive mechanisms of advertising to turn us consumers inside out on ourselves was done and decided. But whilst others were rejecting popular culture and courting ironic detachment in their work, Dwyer celebrated it. Her stance is ambivalent: she loves pop and she loves to deconstruct it, taking an approach that is direct and witty rather than detached and ironic. Also in contrast to many of her peers, Dwyer’s works often have no original source. They are rather mash-ups of familiar references that are firmly inscribed into our visual and textual imaginaries.

Nancy Dwyer, Hot Mess is the artist’s first institutional solo show in Europe and the first exhibit of this scale after a hiatus of nearly a decade. The exhibition brings together works from the ‘80s to today and includes a new series of works as well as two public art works, one installed in the square behind Kunsthalle, the other a short walk away. A publication accompanying the exhibition will appear in 2025.

Events:
Talk by Nancy Dwyer
Sunday 15. September, 3 pm

Public tours:
Wednesday 9. October, 6 pm
Saturday 2. November, 3 pm
Wednesday 27. November, 6 pm /