Olaf Breuning

Olaf Breuning
MARILYNS

september 3 – october 23, 2010
Ny Carlsberg Vej 68, Copenhagen

”I want to be a machine”, sounds one of Andy Warhol’s most famous quotes. The pop artist surrendered himself and his art to the endless repetitions of mass culture, and assimilated to the dominating media and consumer culture of his time. Ironically, his silkscreen prints of Marilyn Monroe have become some of the most reproduced works of art ever.

Following a long lasting interest in art historical appropriations and references Olaf Breuning’s solo exhibition Marilyns takes its formal point of departure in Andy Warhol’s iconic portraits. As it is typical for Breuning he is inspired by his near surroundings – in this case an image instantly recognizable to most people.

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Whilst Warhol, in his break with painting, utilized the copy’s repetitions by means of the silkscreen technique, Olaf Breuning refers to the painterly tradition by providing his Marilyns with naked and black painted bodies. Dressed in apparent and coarse brush strokes the women stare back at the viewer, and Breuning does not only appropriate Marilyn’s portrait, but puts her into dialogue with the nudes of the western art historical tradition.

As regards to content Olaf Breuning’s artistic project generally reflects the shallowness of modern western culture, but always with an underlying self-irony and acknowledgment of being part of the society that surrounds him. ”If you can’t beat it – join it”, seems to be the slogan of Warhol and Breuning alike, added a fundamental hope of exposing the smugness and hypocrisy of modern society from within.

Olaf Breuning is also part of the group exhibition Make yourself at home on display at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen. The exhibition takes place from 04.09. to 21.11.2010. For this show Breuning has created a new sculpture. Additionally his massive sculptures from the series Humans as well as the film Home 2 will be presented in the exhibition.
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Works
Artist Biography
OLAF BREUNING

Born in Schaffhausen, CH, 1970
Lives and works in New York City, NY, USA

Olaf Breuning works across a wide range of media, including photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, video, and installation. His art blurs the line between fact and fiction, dissolving the boundaries between art and everyday life. Rather than existing in isolation, Breuning’s work engages directly with the world around it.

At first glance, his use of humor and self-irony may seem lighthearted and accessible. However, a closer look reveals a deeper, more layered complexity.

Breuning playfully combines elements of high and low culture, placing iconic references from art history alongside symbols of contemporary popular culture. With an eclectic and often absurd approach, he reimagines familiar images from Western visual traditions, using them to comment on modern life and consumerism in the West.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the NRW Forum in Düsseldorf, the Public Art Fund at Friedman Plaza in New York, Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, ICA London, PS1 MoMA in New York, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zürich, Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the Tinguely Museum in Basel.

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