“Smut & Forbidden Fruit” is the theme of my exhibition, which recently took place at the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in New York.
It’s a very personal theme. A love story full of contrasts - contrasts between men and women. It consists of two parts: my romantic intentions and an unspoken power struggle between my beloved and me, as well as between her and her father.
“Forbidden Fruit” is the romantic, dreamy part—the feminine part.
It idealizes the longing for togetherness, for intimacy, for purity—for floating on a cloud, seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. Yet the fruits depicted here have always been associated with sensuality as well.
“Smut” is the opposite. The masculine part.
For “Blood meets Liver,” I actually placed a blood sausage and a liver sausage on the film strip. In Bavaria, the fillings of both sausages are traditionally seasoned and combined to create a popular, hearty meal, especially among men. In this case, the father of my unrequited love. The image is also meant to provoke her, since she detests such coarse pleasures.
Curator Ruthie Tucker is opening the exhibition in the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery