Few contemporary artists are as present in the public eye as Jonathan Meese (b. 1970) – and this for nearly twenty-five years. His diverse artistic pursuits – spanning painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, film, opera, installation, performance, poetry, and writing – attest to an extraordinarily prolific creative output. He is undoubtedly one of the most influential living artists. Meese critiques the current societal system and seeks to replace it with a “Dictatorship of Art” to free people from ideological forces currently manifesting in various forms of populism. He foresaw this trend in political developments as early as the mid-1990s, warning that art should be wielded as a counterforce. His mother, Brigitte, has been a steadfast supporter of his artistic actions from the beginning, a connection evident in the Zurich exhibitions.

The two exhibitions, Erz-Inkubatorex de Large: Johnny, das Kunstkind ‚Evolutionärrz’ and Dracula’s Liebe Mutterz: Böse Leiche!?! at the Tichy Ocean Foundation and Wasserkirche Zurich, continue a highly successful collaboration between the two institutions, initiated with presentations by Stefan Vogel and Mandy El-Sayegh. This project marks only Meese’s second solo exhibition in Switzerland in twenty-five years, following his first at Kunst Halle St. Gallen. Inspired by a visit to the crypt of the Wasserkirche this June – where, according to legend, the stone marks where Zurich’s patron saints Felix and Regula were beheaded as Roman soldiers during the Diocletian persecution of Christians around 300 AD – both presentations are arranged in the style of a mausoleum. “IN THE WASSERKIRCHE, THE ‘GRAVE OF DRACULA’S MOTHERZ’ WILL BE PRESENTED! THE GRAVE IS A SEATED GRAVE IN AN ART TEMPLE MADE OF STYROFOAM BLOCKS! THE TEMPLE IS SURROUNDED BY ARTWORKED EURO PALLETS; EVERYTHING LOOKS PEATY AND IMPROVISED, READY TO LAUNCH AN ART UFO,” says the artist.

Jonathan Meese explicitly considers the spatial characteristics of the Foundation and the church, as well as their present and past histories. In the resulting site-specific installations, along with paintings and drawings, numerous sculptural works specially conceived for the exhibitions are presented, including doll-like figures and action videos featuring the artist with his mother. Alongside the site-specific elements, Meese is also focused on the thematic component, particularly the exploration of “death in life” and vice versa. Speaking of the exhibition at the Tichy Ocean Foundation, Meese states: Here, “THE ‘GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN ART SOLDIER’ JOHNNY, THE ART CHILD, THAT IS, JONATHAN HARKERZ, WILL BE PRESENTED….. JOHNNY HARKERZMEESE IS ULTIMATELY JOHN SINCLAIR, THE GHOST HUNTER….. OR LARRY BRENT, MACABROS, OR ARSAT, THE DEMON HUNTERZ….. THE GRAVE IS ALSO JUST A ‘SLEEP INCUBATOR’ FROM WHICH ‘A.R.T.’, LIKE DRACULA, AWAKENS WHEN NEEDED AS A PRIMEVAL RESCUE, LIKE SUPERMAN….”