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Yours, KOW

Kussbilder, 1992 / 2018

GermanEnglish

What would Germany be at night without Bild’s reporters, always ready to forgo sleep so the breaking news of the day is waiting when we wake up in the morning. In 1992, neo-Nazis were marching and refugee shelters were burning in Germany. Ever undaunted, the Chemnitz edition of Bild ran a headline that encapsulated what really mattered to people: “Asylum applicants now in schoolyards. Two more are coming every minute.” What’s there left to say? Alice Creischer unceremoniously gave the paper 150 kisses until it was so densely covered with red lipstick prints that it was almost illegible. “Kiss the fascists wherever you meet them!” the poet Kurt Tucholsky wrote in 1931. A few weeks ago, Creischer got back into the kissing game. Seehofer, Maaßen—one could kiss Germany all day and all night and still want more. *

Was wäre Deutschland in der Nacht, würden nicht Bildreporter sich um den Schlaf bringen, um uns am Morgen mit dem Wichtigsten des Tages zu versorgen. 1992, als in Deutschland Neonazis aufmarschierten und die Flüchtlingsheime brannten, titelte die Chemnitzer Ausgabe von Bild, was das Land bewegte: „Asylanten jetzt auf Schulhöfe. Jede Minute kommen zwei neue.“ Das hatte Schmiss. Was soll man dazu noch sagen? Alice Creischer küsste kurzerhand die Zeitung rund 150 mal, bis sie übersäht mit rotem Lippenstift kaum mehr lesbar war. „Küsst die Faschisten, wo ihr sie trefft!“, dichtete Kurz Tucholsky 1931. Vor einigen Wochen fing Creischer mit dem Küssen wieder an. Seehofer, Maaßen, ach, man könnte gar nicht mehr damit aufhören, Deutschland zu küssen. *

Alice Creischer, Kussbild, 2018, lipstick on newspaper
Alice Creischer, Kussbild, 1992, lipstick on newspaper
Alice Creischer, Kussbild, 2018, lipstick on newspaper
Alice Creischer, Kussbild, 1992, lipstick on newspaper

Lipstick on newspaper
* excerpt from Alexander Koch about Alice Creischer's Exhibition at KOW 2018

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Alice Creischer

Alice Creischer, born in Gerolstein in 1960, studied Philosophy, German literature and Visual Arts in Düsseldorf. As one of the key figures of German political art movements in the Nineties, Creischer contributed to a great amount of collective projects, publications, and exhibitions. Her artistic and theoretic agenda within institutional and economical critique has evolved over 30 years, more recently focusing on the early history of capitalism and globalization. As co-curator of such paradigmatic exhibitions like Messe 2ok (1995), ExArgentina (2004) and The Potosi Principle (2010-), Creischer has developed a specific curatorial practice that correlates with her work as an artist and theorist, including her extensive practice in archive research. As author Creischer has contributed to many publications, magazines and fanzines. Her work has been shown in institutions and art spaces all over the world such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2022, 2021, 2019, 2017), Kunstverein Heidelberg (2022), LWL Museum, Münster (2021), Gegenwartsmuseum, Basel (2020), Gropius Bau, Berlin (2019), Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (2018), Culturgest, Lisbon (2017), Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2016), Ludwig Forum Aachen (2015), Documenta 12 (2009), Macba, Barcelona (2008), Secession (2002) amongst many others. She currently holds a professorship together with Andreas Siekmann at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna.



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