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Edward Kienholz 1927 - 1994 “ I mostly think of my work as the spoor of an animal that goes through the forest and makes a thought trail, and the viewer is the hunter who comes and follows the trail. At one point I as the trail-maker disappear. The viewer then is confronted with the dilemma of ideas and directions.”
Edward Kienholz Kienholz was an American artist who created works that reflected upon social and political issues of the time. He created life sized models and immersive environments using found objects. Kienholz was a key promoter of the LA Avant-garde as the founder of the NOW gallery(Established in 1956 for Californian artists) and cofounder of the Ferus Gallery (this was a contemporary art gallery operating from 1957-1966) Late on his career and up until his death in 1994 he created collaborative works with his wife Nancy Kienholz.
The State Hospital 1966 Tableau: Plaster casts, fibre glass, hospital beds, bedpan, hospital table, goldfish bowls, live black fish, lighted neon tubing, steel hardware, wood, paint 96 x 144 x 120 in (243.8 x 365.8 x 304.8 cm) http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kienholz/state_hospital_int.jpg.html Bowl and Black fish represent the head of a man suffering mental illness. Kienholz had worked in a mental institution so had experienced the grim sounds, smells, and atmospheres behind closed doors of an asylum. The work is aimed to criticise society and to be engaging to the viewer. It is very shocking and disturbing; it also is an insight to what it feels like.
The Room The room is a crate-like box with a paddle locked door. The window has 3 bars almost like a prison. When you stand at the door there is an aroma of disinfectant spray. A single light bulb from the ceiling reveals inside the room.
Ideas and Concepts • During the 1960’s, Kienholz used objects that had been disposed of that appeared damaged or in a bad state, in large-scale installations. The installations included life-sized figures, which were put in built environments. The idea was to break down the comfort zone between the work and its viewers. • His tableaux often evoke American society's sexual prudery, political corruption, moral hypocrisy, and oppression of marginalized groups. These works are designed to evoke complicated responses of revulsion and guilt, often making viewers feel complicit in their atrocities. • Due to its controversial subject matter and its unflinching portrayals of sex and violence, Kienholz's work was frequently the target of debates over obscenity and the appropriate use of public funding for the arts, foreshadowing discussions about contemporary art that still continue to this day.
Ideas and Concepts Kienholz's radical technique of integrating found detritus into immersive installations would influence the next generation of sculptors who used readymade materials in complex and oftentimes subversive ways. Such artists as; • Damien Hirst and Paul McCarthy would draw upon Kienholz's aesthetic, themes, and techniques to carve out their own unique practices of assemblage and installation. • Sculptor Duane Hanson and the Pop artist George Segal were also informed by Kienholz's large-scale arrangements and life-casting practice. • Other artists, including Leon Golub and Sue Coe, have been inspired by Kienholz's confrontational and often jarring use of social and political themes. • Artists Michael McMillen and Roland Reiss were directly influenced by his tableaux compositions in the creation of their own sculptures.
Roxys The figures in the installation are made to look repulsive. Kienholz creates a theatrical experience to show the horrific qualities of prostitution. His work is made to draw attention to societies distorted social adaptation within the history of 20th century art and incorporate the physical qualities of humans. When entering the roxys installation the viewer is greeted by The Madam, who is the operator of the brothel. The viewer then goes on to to see a scene that is increasingly disturbing. Some figures within the piece include; Five Dollar Billy, who shows the dark reality of her occupation she has names carved into her torso. Fifi, A lost angel, who is made up of the face of a child and the legs of a woman, a clock is inside of her stomach to suggest a method of timing her customers. Cockeyed Jenny, a spread legged faceless body made from a garbage can with mannequins legs.
The Merry-Go-World Merry go world is a 10 foot octagon with a space for viewers to enter. The outside is designed as a carousel that has calliope music, flashing lights and a circle of animals. These among these animals include a carved pig with a taxidermy boars head, a brass folkart giraffe with crutches for legs and an elephant with an old phonograph amplifier horn for its skull and trunk. There is a swinging door entrance to the inside of the carousel with a sign that says “whoa! One person at a time.” When it is the viewers turn to enter they spin the wheel of fortune and go inside. On the inside there is flashing lights that go round like a ball in a roulette wheel lighting up a vitrine, that represents the thesis that geography is destiny. Once the flashing stops the vitrine you have spun remains lit up, this shows your life.
The Illegal operation 1962 Polyester, resin, paint, shopping trolley, furniture, concrete, lamp, cloth, bed pan and medical implements. 59 x 48 x 54 in (149.9 x 121.9 x 137.2 cm) • This work was made a decade before abortion was legalized in the united states. • It was created from found objects such as a shopping trolley, wooden stool, a standing lamp. • It drew attention to the debates on abortion. This work was based on personal experiences, as his wife was forced to have an abortion using the same procedure. • This comes across like the state hospital as the subject is sensitive and very horrifying to the viewer. Everyone has their own different views on this subject.
The Back Seat Dodge '38 (1964) • It caused an uproar, leading some local authorities to call it pornographic and others to plead for its removal from the exhibition. • The work, which can only be seen by gazing through the open door, gives the sense that the viewer has intruded upon the scene • Kienholz engages simultaneous reactions of discomfort, revulsion, interest, and curiosity that evoke the mid-twentieth century American public's attitudes towards sexuality. • The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Five car stud (1969 – 1972) • The Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura, Japan • addresses the enduring violence, prejudice, and racism in America during the Civil Rights era and its aftermath. • the work was intended to jolt the viewer with its graphic intensity, forcing the audience to come face to face with the brutal reality of the African-American experience.
