Lienhard von Monkiewitsch: DANACH IST DAVOR

Thoughts from limbo

This is the title of Carina Plath's lucid introductory text, and she continues: "Our conversation during the set-up revolves around the artist's patricide from 1983 onwards, which is often thematised in the texts on Monkiewitsch: the cuts in the Black Square, the icon of Kazimir Malevich; we talk about Protestantism - Lienhard tells of his family, influenced by Protestant pastors, who suffered reprisals throughout history, first in Russia, then in Nazi Germany and later in the GDR at different times under different regimes; he also makes some jokes about Catholics in hell. I counter that Protestants are stuck in limbo for this - after all, they are the ones who, neither blessed nor cursed, will never know paradise or damnation. The question of ideologically 'correct' art arises: The artist talks about how he had painted photorealistically and was attacked for his elitism; how, after abandoning realism, he once again faced hostility from other people, while others again read the concrete reference to the spatial reality of the floors ideologically as an approach to the viewer." For Lienhard von Monkiewitsch, all of this led to great serenity - but what remained was a fundamental mistrust of the teleological impulse of classical modernism. However, this was also "responsible for the establishment of the autonomous work of art and thus also stood up for freedom of expression, for the possibilities of expanding perception and for the right of the critical viewer. The artist does not want to give up these achievements and thus finds himself in the difficult situation of having to continue history without succumbing to it."

Exhibitions:
Mönchehaus Museum Goslar; 21/3 - 4/7/2021
Sprengel Museum Hanover, 1/4 - 30/5/2021
Gallery of Chance and Luck Hanover, 13/11 - 28/11/2021
Municipal Gallery KUBUS, 13/11-19/12/2021