Who would like to see a bit of comedic taxidermy? I suppose the question should really be “who doesn’t?”. Czech artist Krištof Kintera is treating Dutch audiences to some amazing animal reanimation, among many other things, as he brings his often-humorous work to the country for a debut solo show.
In A Prayer for Loss of Arrogance, a bloom of green Mylar growths cover the torso and neck of a fox, who, clad in tracksuit pants and balancing on a sad-looking exercise ball, seems to be about to make a leap into the unknown. A similar outbreak of pink and silver bubbles encases the head of a dog in Spirit Leaving Gravitation — perhaps the bubbles are about to carry the animals off to a better place? The title exhibit, My Light is Your Life, is a formidable but strangely uplifting Christ-like figure made entirely of lights and higgledy-piggledy wires; the construction plays on Biblical references, but also suggests a concern with expenditure and consumption of energy. Kintera’s sculpture has plenty of outright dark moments too. Revolution for example, is a wince-inducing statement on attritional, seemingly futile efforts towards social change as his hoodied figure smashes its head against the proverbial brick wall.
The Kintera show is centred at Rotterdam’s Kunsthal, and occupies not just the traditional exhibition areas, but spaces between walls (the sound installation It Is Beginning), outside space behind the venue (Public Juke Box), and even an underground bunker in the Westzeedijk district for the immersive Bad News. The event finishes on 7 June.
Krištof Kintera,
Demon of the Growth, 2014
Plastic balls, height 430 cm
©2014, Krištof Kintera, photo: Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
Bad News, 2011
sound track, movement mechanism, solenoids,
microchip contoller, drum, horns, radio, clothes, etc.
© 2014, Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
My light is Your Life (model Shiva Samurai), 2014
Old lamps, bulbs, cables, electrics, metal construction
© 2014, Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
A Prayer for Lost of Arrogance, 2013
Mixed media, 175 x 60 x 70 cm
© 2014, Krištof Kintera, photo: Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
Demon of the Growth (detail), 2014
Plastic balls, height 430 cm
© 2014, Krištof Kintera, photo: Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
Throne, 2011
Electromotor, microchip controller, feathers,
metal structure, epoxy, office chair
©2014, Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
Revolution, 2005 (Detail)
Electromechanical system, microchip controller,
metal construction, polyurethane, clothes, etc.
© 2014, Krištof Kintera, photo: Krištof Kintera
Krištof Kintera,
Public Jukebox, 2011-2014
Electro-acoustic public project
© 2014, Krištof Kintera
