Book Description
This book documents a remarkable joint exhibition of work by the 20th-century German artist Otto Dix and the contemporary Los Angeles artist Raymond Pettibon. The show features a generous cross-section of works on paper by Dix from the entirety of his career, beginning with his earliest works from the turn of the 20th-century, inspired by Nietzsche, to his classic war postcards from his experieinces during World War I, to later works that examine themes of love and death. Pettibon respeonds to these works by executing drawings on the walls of the museum where the Dix works are hung. These drawings, a blood red heart, human eye, and other organs, speak to the themes explored by Dix, and are accompanied by Pettibon's captions. Together, Dix's drawings, etchings, and illustrations, and Pettibon's interventions combine to create an installation that reflects the past, present, and future of figurative art. Raymond Pettibon is a well-known California-based artist whose comic-like illustrations, complete with captions, have won him a large following among fans of pop art. His extremely rare self-published books are highly sought after by collectors, and his work has been exhibited in recent years in solo shows at The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Renaissance Society in Chicago. He has also illustrated album covers for rock groups including Sonic Youth and Black Flag. Otto Dix was born in Germany in 1891. His service as a private and seargent in World War I was a formative experience that led to some of his most recognized work, his etching protfolio from the early 1920s entitled "The War." Fired from his job teaching art in Dresden by the Nazis, Dix retired to a quiet life of painting during the 1930s and 1940s. After the War, Dix resumed his art career, working in the media of painting, drawing, etching, and lithographs, until his death in 1969. Edited by Hans-Werner Schmidt. Essays by Ingeborg Kahler, Roberto Ohrt and Ulrike Rudiger. 37 color, 23 b&w and 3 duotones. 6.5 x 9.25 in.