The exhibition CARO JOST—WALK THE TALK—in its final week in Munich—features work from her new Public Paintings series, drawn from the archive of found materials and photographs she assembled in New York City in the summer of 2001, when she was a young artist in the Art Students League.
The origins for WALK THE TALK are the pamphlets for evening courses Caro Jost had “picked up and collected on the streets, in the subways, or in public places. She transfers these pamphlets to the canvas as paintings, whereby she intentionally omits individual information. In a next step, she deconstructs the transferred text by hiding certain words with camouflage-like overpainting and by singling out others as catchwords. In doing this, the artist comments on the content of advertising and reveals a critically ironic and humorous attitude towards the promises these evening classes make. The short, catchy texts with memorable slogans that directly appeal to us have been tailored to the everyday language of the public. They reflect the social climate of the summer 2001 prior to 9/11.
“The theme of self-reflection is taken up in a mirror work that is 1.80 meters high and 2.50 meters wide and extends across the entire wall of one of the exhibition rooms. This mirror not only reflects the exhibition space opposite it as well as the visitors to the gallery, but also the street outside, which creates a reference to public space. To accompany this, the artist is showing photographs from 2001, in which she captured her impressions of New York City with a digital camera.”*
Through September 27.
Galerie Britta von Rettberg
Gabelsbergerstrasse 51, Munich.
Caro Jost, walk the talk, Galerie Britta von Rettberg, July–September 2019, from top: In a couples world, 2001/2019; $$ 3.07, 2001/2019; Everyone can be a Star, 2001/2019; Stop being nice, 2001/2019; Last Chance, 2001/2019; Beat the Clock, 2001/2019. Images courtesy and © the artist and Galerie Britta von Rettberg.
