Artists Space

Jutta Koether: xxapollo

Performance
January 5, 2020, 2pm

In her performances, Jutta Koether enacts a highly specific form of entangled action centering on and around specific artworks. Embedded with performative possibility, these objects – positioned in a room, a situation, a city – circuit together in a network of language, duration, and the artist's active negotiation between producer and produced.

An installation view of a brightly colored painting lodged into a rectangular sheet of glass which is made to stand upright by being wedged into a block of concrete which sits on a floor scattered with wood chips.
Jutta Koether, Fifth Season Act, Apotheosically, Artists Space, 2012. [An installation view of a brightly colored painting lodged into a rectangular sheet of glass which is made to stand upright by being wedged into a block of concrete which sits on a floor scattered with wood chips.]

Jutta Koether (b. 1958 Cologne, Germany) lives and works between Harburg and New York. Recent solo exhibitions include Museum Abteiberg (2019); Mudam Luxembourg (2019); Museum Brandhorst (2018); Campoli Presti, London (2016); PRAXES Center for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2014); and Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York (2014). Koether has also participated in numerous group exhibitions worldwide, including HARSH ASTRAL – The Radiants II, Campoli Presti, Paris (2017); 10th Annual Shanghai Biennial (2014); and NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, The New Museum (2013), and the Whitney Biennial (2012).

In 1980, Koether joined the editorial staff of the music and art journal Spex. She has also written for such publications as Eau de Cologne, Artforum, Texte zur Kunst, and Flash Art. She is the author of several books, including f. (1987), which was translated into English and republished by Sternberg Press in 2015. Her work is marked by multiple collaborations, including her participation in the collective Reena Spaulings, and her musical performances with Rita Ackerman, Tony Conrad, Kim Gordon, John Miller, Steven Parrino, and Tom Verlaine.

A person dressed in all pink, holding a microphone and piece of paper, stands surrounded by a crowd of audience members arranged in a circle. The room is lit with a slightly pink light and light spots are reflected at even intervals.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink, holding a microphone and piece of paper, stands surrounded by a crowd of audience members arranged in a circle. The room is lit with a slightly pink light and light spots are reflected at even intervals.]
A colorful drawing with sketches of two people is projected onto a dark wall. The image is partially obscured by two silhouetted figures.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A colorful drawing with sketches of two people is projected onto a dark wall. The image is partially obscured by two silhouetted figures.]
A person dressed in all pink reads from a sheet of paper into a microphone. She holds a small disco ball in her arm. She is surrounded by rapt audience members arranged in a semi-circle around her.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink reads from a sheet of paper into a microphone. She holds a small disco ball in her arm. She is surrounded by rapt audience members arranged in a semi-circle around her.]
A person dressed in all pink, holding several sheets of paper, speaks into a microphone. Her arms are draped with masses of cords. A crowd of audience members surrounds her, some seated and some standing.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink, holding several sheets of paper, speaks into a microphone. Her arms are draped with masses of cords. A crowd of audience members surrounds her, some seated and some standing.]
A person dressed in all pink steps over a mass of wires. She is illuminated from behind by a bright, white wall. In the foreground, dimly lit figures face varying directions.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink steps over a mass of wires. She is illuminated from behind by a bright, white wall. In the foreground, dimly lit figures face varying directions.]
A person bends over an electric piano, her hair falling over her face. She is illuminated from behind by a brightly lit wall.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person bends over an electric piano, her hair falling over her face. She is illuminated from behind by a brightly lit wall.]
A person dressed in all pink extends a heart-shaped canvas in front of her, while her eyes look away. She is surrounded by rapt audience members arranged in a semi-circle around her. There are light spots reflected at even intervals patterning the room.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink extends a heart-shaped canvas in front of her, while her eyes look away. She is surrounded by rapt audience members arranged in a semi-circle around her. There are light spots reflected at even intervals patterning the room.]
A person dressed in all pink bends at the waist over her extended leg, over a heart-shaped canvas. She is surrounded by a crowd of audience members. There are light spots are reflected at even intervals over the performer and the crowd.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink bends at the waist over her extended leg, over a heart-shaped canvas. She is surrounded by a crowd of audience members. There are light spots are reflected at even intervals over the performer and the crowd.]
A person dressed in all pink, holding a heart-shaped canvas, smiles into a microphone held by a second person in all black. In the background, a crowd of people look on.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [A person dressed in all pink, holding a heart-shaped canvas, smiles into a microphone held by a second person in all black. In the background, a crowd of people look on.]
Various objects sit on a concrete floor, including a miniature disco ball, a painted heart-shaped canvas, and a tangle of cords.
Jutta Koether: xxapollo. Performance documentation, January 5, 2020, Artists Space. Photo © 2020 Paula Court. [Various objects sit on a concrete floor, including a miniature disco ball, a painted heart-shaped canvas, and a tangle of cords.]

Lead support

VIA Art Fund

Support

The Friends of Artists Space, The Artists Space Program Fund, Atelier4, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Greenwich Collection LTD, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

    A close-up image of an assemblage with a figure on the left-hand side in a white suit holding a microphone.
    Jutta Koether, Fifth Season Act, Apotheosically, Artists Space, 2012. [A close-up image of an assemblage with a figure on the left-hand side in a white suit holding a microphone.]