Der Staatsgoot DR. ERWIN de Dr. NO

Description of the Work: "Der Staatsgoot DR. ERWIN de Dr. NO im Raum des 3 GOTT PAKTTUMS, 2003"

Jonathan Meese's Theater of Power and Total Parody

"Der Staatsgoot DR. ERWIN de Dr. NO im Raum des 3 GOTT PAKTTUMS" is a landmark work by Jonathan Meese, created in 2003, that fully captures the German artist's wild imagery and strategy of symbolic layering. The 120 x 100 cm painting is a powerful mixed media technique employing acrylics, collage, and plastic inserts on canvas, creating a tactile physicality that echoes Action Painting in a postmodernist and nihilistic vein.

The title, deliberately parodic and ironic, is an assemblage that evokes authority and all-encompassing mythology: the "State God" (Der Staatsgott), an allusion to James Bond's enemy (Dr. NO), and an ironic reference to ideologies (3 GOTT.PAKTTUMS).

At the center of the composition, a large, dark and menacing icon emerges, interpreted as the all-consuming power of the state that feeds on the individual. The appearance is deliberately grotesque and theatrical, emphasizing the farcical dimension of all authority as a "monstrous staging." The work is interspersed with Meese's distinctive textual fragments:

• BABYFACE: An irony about innocence, in stark contrast to the aggressiveness of the central face.
• SAINT MEESE: The artist mockingly self-consecrates himself, parodying the cult of artistic genius.
• V. GOGH 1924: A false chronological reference (Van Gogh died in 1890), which uses the icon of the famous painter as a decontextualized "mark of authenticity".

Overall, Meese stages a parodic and disturbing cult, subverting political, religious and cultural symbols in a highly provocative language, transforming the painting into an ironic altar of state delirium.

The work is signed and dated lower right ("JM 2003") and also titled, dated, and signed on the back, which features collages of photographs depicting the artist in various disguises. Its importance is underscored by its provenance: Contemporary Fine Art (Berlin) and Galerie Templon (Paris). The painting was exhibited at the FIAC in Paris in 2003 by Galerie Templon and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the same gallery.

Jonathan Meese: Der Staatsgoot DR. ERWIN... (2003). Mixed media, acrylics and collage 120 x 100 cm. Work exhibited at FIAC 2003. Conceptual and nihilistic art.