Jérôme Zonder and the cannibals

I had forgotten to tell you about the work of Jérôme Zonder.

Jérôme-Zon77x702.jpgJérôme Zonder – Jeu d’enfants n°1, 2010 © Jérôme Zonder et Galerie Eva Hober Paris

I discovered the work above at the exhibition Tous Cannibales at La Maison Rouge in Paris. Somehow, the show got lost in the frenzy of my last gallery-marathon in Paris. Plus, taking picture was a big ‘no-no-!-get-out-of-here’ which means that i couldn’t document properly the exhibition. Yesterday, however, i was preparing my trip to Berlin (DMY!) and discovered that Tous Cannibales gets an Alles Kannibalen? reincarnation at me Collectors Room in Berlin. As its name indicates, the exhibition explores anthropophagy in art. Works by Goya and James Ensor are shown in dialogue with pieces by Wim Delvoye, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Pieter Hugo and Jérôme Zonder.

Zonder’s work is provocative. Everybody loves provocative nowadays but he plays the provocative and offensive game with more panache and imagination than most. I thought he deserved more than just a photo on this blog:

jeromezonder7.jpgOn fête l’anniversaire de ses neuf ans, 2009

phocadavfile_5411.jpgSérie Un jeu d´enfants, 2009

pfourme_5001.jpgAu départ c´est plus petit qu´une fourmi, 2007

phoseulle_4900.jpgOn fête l´anniversaire de ses neuf ans…, 2009

jeromezonder2.jpgOn fête l´anniversaire de ses neuf ans…, 2009

Seizing on strong iconographic symbols taken from the Nazi aesthetics and the worlds of childhood and cartoons, Zonder revisits these forms of narration and the innocence they carry (children drawings, clear lines) as well as the cruelty (realism, caricature) through mise-en-scenes with a gory tone where sex and barbarity are more than compatible. (extract from the press release of the exhibition Pupper Show Dust at the Galerie Eva Hober Paris)

jeromezonder18.jpgGarance et Baptiste sont a la campagne, 2009

photo_file_5350.jpgUn jeu d´enfants, 2009

Alles Kannibalen? is open until 21st of August 2011 at me Collectors Room in Berlin.