Jochen Plogsties

Kisses in the afternoon

With Kisses in the Afternoon, the kestnergesellschaft will be presenting a comprehensive solo exhibition by the Leipzig-based painter Jochen Plogsties (*1974 in Cochem, Germany). Plogsties bases his paintings on reproductions of well-known artworks by old and new masters as well as personal commemorative photos. He takes his pictorial templates from picture books, newspapers, magazines, postcards and the Internet. Plogsties reproduces these existing pictures and visibly integrates the process of copying into his own works.

While a reproduction already represents an alteration of the original in cropping and coloration, Plogsties precisely follows the existing composition. He plays with formats—a portrait the size of a postcard is enlarged to outsized proportions—and counters the precision of the reproduction with his coarse painting technique. In contrast to mechanically produced copies, his approach is a subjective process of appropriation, adaptation and abstraction that is in some cases subtly and in other cases prominently evidenced in his pictures. The white or colored borders around his motifs point to the reproduction as a template and are part of his paintings. The titles of the works make reference to the original and the reproduction.

The paintings shown for the first time in the exhibition demonstrate the breadth of his motifs, including historical portraits from the late Middle Ages to modernism, de Chirico’s Melancholia, Magritte’s The Treachery of Images, details from the Temptation of Saint Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch, pictures of animals from Wikipedia Commons and photographs by famous artists such as Cindy Sherman. Past and contemporary pictorial motifs are treated equally.

In his works Plogsties addresses the dogma of originality in Western art history and the associated questions of authorship, style and authenticity. His approach also reflects contemporary conditions and possibilities for the production, reception and distribution of artworks.

Jochen Plogsties studied under Arno Rink and Neo Rauch at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig from 2003 to 2008. In 2009 he was awarded a residency at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York, and in 2011 he received the Leipziger Volkszeitung Art Prize.