AA Bronson
You can put many labels on AA Bronson: art veteran, shaman, General Idea’s survivor, gay role model. But in fact I am not really interested in all the cliches spinning around his persona. Of course, this doesn’t mean I won’t tell you about General Idea or mention that AA is all about rituals – everything from ceremonial magic, witches covens, group therapy down to quilting bees and circle jerks. AA lived and worked as part of the artists’ group General Idea from 1969 until the deaths of his two partners in 1994. He is now based in New York and Toronto.
Thanks to our music editor, Sean, I was supposed to meet AA for an interview and a lovely cup of coffee last week but due to events that are neither that important nor that relevant right now, I failed. That’s why I can’t tell you if AA’s beard is really as soft as it looks or if he has a calm voice. However, there is one thing I definitely would disagree on with AA and that is his claiming he is an “old man” I’m sorry AA, but you’re quite some years and exhibitions and exciting collaboration projects away from becoming one. If you follow the blog, you’d know that I’m not the one to praise artists in vain.
Actually, exactly one of those exciting group projects brought AA to Berlin. He is opening the show “Queer Spirits And Other Invocations” tonight from 18:00 till 20:00 at Esther Schipper Berlin.
That’s one of AA’s own photos of the exhibition in progress: on the floor, “Flesh of our Flesh”, a collaboration with Elijah Bergher; left wall, “Black Red Gold”, a collaboration with Ryan Brewer; and back wall “Red Shroud”, also a collaboration with Ryan. AA Bronson works best in collaboration. Here is his explanation in an interview with Kilimag:
To tell you the truth, it’s all I’ve ever done. I don’t know much about solo practice and it doesn’t really appeal to me. I think that solo practice comes directly out of a kind of marketing, framing the artist as ‘hero’ or ‘genius’. Music, dance, theatre, and even architecture are all collaborative practices, but somehow the visual arts is rarely pictured as collaborative, even when an artist employs an army of assistants, and is more art director than artist.
AA BRONSON
QUEER SPIRITS AND OTHER INVOCATIONS
CURATED BY FRÉDÉRIC BONNET
OCTOBER 28 – DECEMBER 17, 2011
OPENING OCTOBER 28 FROM 18:00 – 21:00
ESTHER SCHIPPER, BERLIN
