Mr. Brainwash Banksy Thrower
FRANK FLUEGEL GALLERY, with a strong focus on Contemporary Art and Pop Art will held its opening reception for the new show „XOOOOX – SAVE THE DATE“ from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Thursday, September 26th 2019. On view are mostly new unique works on wood and metal. The exhibition runs through December 22th 2019.
XOOOOX (*1979) is a German street artist who lives and works in Berlin. Similar to Banksy" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=1088">Banksy the true identity behind his pseudonym remains unknown.
XOOOOX (pronounced “zooks”) was born 1979 and started with classical graffiti at the age of 15. He is a Berlin based Street-artist known for guerrilla-style who works with delicate stenciled works and installations in an Arte Povera style that consist of weathered and decaying materials.
He never went to art school so instead of that he taught himself by practicing under railway bridges and while travelling around big cities like Frankfurt, or Cologne.
XOOOOX is, in fact, regarded as the first German street artist that has come to prominence on the international art market besides Banksy" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=1088">Banksy. Though the artist’s works can be seen throughout the city his identity remains a secret to prevent against charges of public vandalism.
In his works, XOOOOX distinctly contrasts the glamour of fashion culture with existentialist themes such as vulnerability and transience. The life-size stencils of professionally styled photo models form the leitmotif of the figurative studies and scrutinize the worship cult and the seduction techniques of haute couture. Beguilingly beautiful, XOOOOX’s women convey a sense of melancholy and introversion and allude to the growing displeasure with the uniform, consumption-driven hype of the fashion industry. Using transitory media such as exposed building facades, worm-eaten wood and rusty metal, XOOOOX grounds this apparently glamorous theme in the street, but the artist’s aim is not to deconstruct fashion culture. XOOOOX pays homage to traditional haute couture while levelling criticism at the over-industrialization of fashion as a cultural artefact of our time.
XOOOOX’s work, whether on the streets of Berlin or in a gallery setting, conveys the dynamics between standard ideas of beauty and ruin. Grimy buildings and rough, untraditional art surfaces like raw wood, or rusty metal are adorned with gorgeous women, often appropriated from photographs of fashion models, seductively glancing out to their viewers, who may be either art enthusiasts or simply random passerby. Many of the women are surrounded by the letters X and O, which doubly act as the artist’s signature and imply that it is XOOOOX himself that the women are thinking of, implying a strong personal connection between the artist and his women.
Thus, XOOOOX’s work is full of paradoxes. It is beautiful and focused on stunning models, it is optimistic and yet subversive. These qualities make his work so full of life, as his women seem to tell their stories from the walls that they rest upon.
XOOOOX is one oft he very few Street Artists a monograph published by Gestalten/Berlin already exists. The book is focused mainly on artist’s portraits of female models that he prefers to stencil or wheat-paste onto surfaces of older buildings scarred by the passage of time. The contrast between the strikingly beautiful women and the crumbling walls is a fundamental aspect of his creative vision.
FRANK FLUEGEL GALLERY with spaces in Nuernberg/Germany and Kitzbuehel/Austria is focused on original artwork of Pop Art and Contemporary Art like Andy Warhol">Andy Warhol" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=2420">Andy Warhol">Andy Warhol">Andy Warhol">Andy Warhol" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=5267">Andy Warhol">Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3594">Tom Wesselmann, Keith Haring" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3046">Keith Haring, Mr. Brainwash, XOOOOX, Roy Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3610">Roy Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=5252">Roy Lichtenstein">Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3595">Julian Opie, James Rosenquist, Alex Katz" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3593">Alex Katz or Mel Ramos" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=3591">Mel Ramos. The Gallery also trades works by Pablo Picasso">Pablo Picasso" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=1087">Pablo Picasso">Pablo Picasso">Pablo Picasso">Pablo Picasso" href="index.php?page=artist_id&id=5234">Pablo Picasso">Pablo Picasso, KAWS, Gerhard Richter or Basquiat.
Changing solo shows at the gallery spaces in central Nuernberg and Kitzbuehel expose different positions of our gallery program. Participating at international art fairs completes our gallery task.
Galerie Frank Fluegel
Obere Woerthstrasse 12
90403 Nuremberg
Germany
