Büttner/Oehlen: signal right – turn left
This small catalogue edited by RealismusStudio looks at the painters Werner Büttner and Albert Oehlen. Their large-format works are characterized by critiques of society, attacking false ideologies like Germanness, nostalgia, myths of war, or meaningless virtues. Color plates of works including Ich möchte mal Sonne im Hintern haben (I’d like to have sun in my backside, 1981, Büttner) or Morgenlicht fällt ins Führerhauptquartier (Morning light on the Führer’s headquarters, 1982, Oehlen) are followed by the “Letters to Georg,” anecdotes and stories cowritten by the artists on themes ranging from rectography to iguanas, from garlic sausage to hairshirts. The “discourse,” the last part of the catalogue, is a montage of texts by working group members Michael Elsen, Ulla Frohne, and Barbara Straka, as well as excerpts from Wolfgang Max Faust’s book Hunger nach Bildern (Hunger for pictures).

Ed.: nGbK

Work group: Valdis J. Āboliņš, Michael Elsen, Ursula Frohne, Christa Kirchner, Udo Ropohl, Barbara Straka

With contributions by: Michael Elsen, Wolfgang Max Faust, Ulla Frohne, Barbara Straka