Between myth, history, and self-representation
“Balthysmeese I” (2001) by Jonathan Meese belongs to the cycle La Chambre de Balthus, a complex series of installations, paintings, sculptures, and drawings first presented in Hannover at the Kestner Gesellschaft, and subsequently exhibited at the FRI-Art Centre d’Art Contemporain in Fribourg and at Leo Koenig Gallery in New York.
At the core of Meese’s work lies a continuous reflection on history, understood as an open field in which mythological, cultural, and autobiographical elements coexist. In this work, the artist interweaves historical figures and identity projections through his own image, evoking the presence of the master Balthus as a dominant reference throughout the entire cycle.
The painting, executed in oil on large-scale canvas, is characterized by an energetic and material-driven approach that clearly defines the artist’s language in the early 2000s.
The work is signed and dated lower right (“JM 2001”) and is also titled, dated, and signed on the reverse, where labels from the galleries of provenance are present.
Jonathan Meese – “Balthysmeese I”, 2001
Provenance: Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Leo Koenig Gallery, New York – 091 Art Project, Palermo
Exhibitions: New York, Leo Koenig Gallery, 2001, “La Chambre De Balthus II”
Archive: signed and dated lower right (“JM 2001”); titled, dated, and signed on the reverse with gallery labels
