Margarete Jakschik and Friedrich Kunath
Only Lovers Left
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany
In their first joint exhibition, artists Margarete Jakschik and Friedrich Kunath transform Kunsthalle Düsseldorf into a space of contemplation, reflection and melancholy. Under the title Only Lovers Left—a reference to Jim Jarmusch’s eponymous film from 2013—the exhibition presents photographs, paintings, and installations by both artists. Here, their distinctive aesthetic positions, as much as their similarities, are brought into focus.
Kunath was born in the former East German city of Chemnitz and grew up in East Berlin, while Jakschik was born in Poland and moved to Germany at the age of six. Together, the couple emigrated westward to Los Angeles in 2007. Capturing journeys both inward and out, Jakschik and Kunath reckon with the legacy of German Romanticism, all the while unraveling its conceptual ironies and clichéd motifs of longing: solitary figures, picturesque sunsets, and meandering paths can be found throughout their wistful compositions, combined with distinctly American imagery and continuous references to popular culture. In other words, the Romantic is brought firmly into the present. The result shifts between irony and sincerity, euphoria and melancholy. At their core, the familiar landscapes and everyday objects seem to harbor a longing for an irretrievable past, capturing the transience and timelessness of life with an attitude that is at once playful and poetic.
The exhibition is curated by Gregor Jansen and Alicia Holthausen in close collaboration with Margarete Jakschik and Friedrich Kunath.