Lukas Hofmann at Art in General

Artist: Lukas Hofmann

Exhibition title: Skin Come Leather

Curated by: Karina Kottova

Venue: Art in General, New York, US

Date: November 24, 2019 – January 31, 2020

Photography: Dario Lasagni / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Art in General, New York

Czech performance and installation artist Lukas Hofmann presents his first New York solo show titled Skin Come Leather at Art in General, commissioned by the curatorial platform Jindrich Chalupecky Society and curated by Karina Kottova. Hofmann’s artistic and performative practice is strongly visual, highly emotional or even obsessive, yet engaged in the second plane—touching upon the aching spots of contemporaneity, as seen through the lens of a generation that inherited this planet in a rather anxious state. His performances, where several actants usually give a breath of life to a carefully set up physical environment, create moments of both extreme tension and vulnerability, inviting audiences to share the deeply embodied feelings of anxiety as well as hope.

Hofmann’s newly commissioned work consisting of video, objects, installation and performance centers around the concept of skin conditions, such as eczema, itching, dry skin and others, as a multi-layered metaphor and sphere for interaction, manipulation, (self)violation, sensation, or exploitation. Skin as a membrane or border has been a reappearing theme throughout Hofmann’s practice and the present exhibition investigates its aesthetic, somatic and symbolical layers. Skin is seen as a semi-translucent membrane, both dividing the bodily self from the rest of the world, and providing access to it; a sphere of the most intimate contact, letting the environmental elements enter the body, holding the body together and yet being so vulnerable to outer powers. Hofmann follows the rudimentary process of turning skin into leather—a commodity—alongside skin examinations and experiments. His new video piece obsessively exposes all these aspects through a degree of consciously mystifying, and consequently disturbing aestheticization and close-up inspection, typical for Hofmann’s artistic process.

The multi-sensorial installation in the gallery space metaphorically stretches out and transforms skin into its urban counterpart: a scaffolding net. The stimuli in the exhibition bring only partial clues—do the climbing holds suggest past or future physical contact, strength or the lack of it? The tinctures of Water of Life and Death are involved in a mysterious process on the edge of medicine and witchcraft. According to local mythology trickling through modern TV fairy tales that Hofmann grew up with in the post-communist Czech Republic, these liquids were to bring back the dead to life and heal wounds, respectively. Here they act as a fickle element, which might turn the tide of perception. Carried in ancient-like, yet hypermodern glass carafes designed by the artist in collaboration with the glass-making company Lasvit, they carefully balance the line between realms of fetish, commercialized wellness and empowerment.

The physical installation creates a negative space for the live performance, which will be presented at the exhibition opening and documented for its duration as a video work on view inside the exhibition. Typically for Hofmann, a group of several performers will engage in escalated forms of (bodily) presence, pressing onto glass surfaces of the gallery space or exhibited objects, leaving traces, deforming, exchanging remains of breath, which might turn into a momentary song. Art in General will become a two-way portal, where the audience will suddenly find itself observed. Through their intense choreography, Hofmann’s group of actants aim to open and close wounds inflicted by the contemporary condition, causing both restlessness and relief.

Lukas Hofmann (1993), also known as Saliva, expresses himself primarily through performance and “social“ sculptures that often speak in a dialect of the fashion and creative industry. In his situations, he creates curated communities of actors and environments in which he induces a focused atmosphere and egalitarian dynamic. In this way, he communicates a whole range of most current emotions: apathy as well as potentiality of feeling, disappointment and hope. He regularly participates in collective exhibitions and art events in the Czech Republic and internationally; he has presented his work e.g. in the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin, the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen, Moderna Museet in Stockholm and PLATO Gallery in Ostrava; during Manifesta 11, he performed at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. In 2018, he received the Jindrich Chalupecky Award, the most prominent Czech award for visual artists.

Art in General was founded by artists in 1981 in New York City. It organizes ground-breaking exhibitions; public programs that focus on critical and timely issues in artistic and curatorial practice; and is home to a residency program that supports artists, curators and arts writers. Art in General is well-known for supporting diverse and visionary artists early on in their careers, most often assisting them with the production and presentation of new work, from Glenn Ligon to Marina Abramovic, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Allora & Calzadilla, Sharon Hayes, Postcommodity and countless others.

Jindrich Chalupecky Society is a platform for Czech post-revolutionary and contemporary art in international context. In collaboration with a number of partner institutions throughout the Czech Republic and internationally, we organize exhibitions, public programs, residencies for artists and curators, educational and publication projects. Since 1990, the Society awards the Jindrich Chalupecky Award for visual artists up to the age of 35.

Lukas Hofmann, Into, glass, metal, 2019, containing: Water of Death, Ingredients: Alcohol denat, Aqua, Achillea millefolium, Cupressus sempervirens, Boswellia carterii, Citrus aurantium, 2019

Lukas Hofmann, Into, glass, metal, 2019

Lukas Hofmann, Into, glass, metal, 2019, containing: Water of Life, Ingredients: Sphagnum, Aqua, Alcohol denat, Nardostachys jatamansi, Aquilaria malaccensis, Matricaria chamomilla, Acacia dealbata, Tilia cordata, Resina myrrhae, Myrtus communis, Boswellia sacra, Rosa damascena, Cedrus atlantica, Ocimum sanctum, 2019