Advance notice:

Video night with works by Christian Jankowski
Sunday, June 16 2013 at 6 pm at the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn

 

Christian Jankowski wins the Videonale Prize of the KfW Stiftung 2013. From the 41 video works nominated, the six-member jury selected the artist’s video work “Casting Jesus”.

 

The members of the jury were: Anita Beckers (Gallerist from Frankfurt and co-founder of the Online-video platform blink video), Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg (General Director Kunstmuseum Bonn), Ade Darmawan (artist and founder of the OK video festival in Jakarta, Indonesia), Leonhard Emmerling (Head of the Visual Arts Division at Goethe Institut), Solange Farkas (Founder and director of the festival Videobrasil, Sao Paolo), Hans-Michael Herzog (Director of the Daros Latinamerica Collection).

 

“Videonale inspires because it experiments, because it never stops searching for new forms of presentation and also takes on controversial themes. Ideas and visions from the whole world are shared, society gains insight into ways of thinking and looking at things. This fits well with our goals – for this reason, the newly founded KfW Stiftung looks forward to continuing its
engagement in VIDEONALE.14 in the forthcoming VIDEONALE.15.” says Dr. Bernd Siegfried, managing director of the KfW Stiftung.

 

In its decision to award the Videonale Prize of the KfW Stiftung, the jury stated: Christian Jankowski’s films and installations hold a mirror up to our media society, as precise as it is full of humour. To do this he makes use of the conventional formats of the mass media, such as TV shows and soaps, in order to examine art, politics, entertainment, commerce and global marketing strategies, and to reveal their real motivation. For “Casting Jesus”, which takes place in a church in Rome, he managed to persuade three representatives of the Vatican to act as the jury and select the best Son of God out of 13 male actors applying for the role of Jesus. The situation which Jankowski set up ran true to the rules of classical casting shows, and surprises the viewer with the earnestness with which both the members of the jury and the actors played their respective roles. When we follow the comments and gestures of the protagonists, we also recognise the typical attitudes and gestures of Christian iconography. The 60 minute, two channel projection contrasts the biblical commandment “you shall not make for yourself any likeness” with the abundance of pictures and portrayals which, as a surrogate, have thrust themselves in front of the true Son of God. In his video, Jankowski, in a gentle way, persuades the Church to produce its own image of the Saviour, and at the same time questions the truth about the image of God. For the equally humorous and subtle way in which the artist, in his work, depicts the relationship between authenticity, faith and presentation, the jury unanimously awards the Videonale 14 prize to Christian Jankowski.

 

 

The Jury also commended Mariola Brillowska’s video “Des Teufels Kinder” (The Devil’s Children):

Subtle, enigmatic, full of black humour is how Mariola Brillowska mirrors the cynicism which prevails in our society in her video “Des Teufels Kinder” (The Devil’s Children). Technically brilliant down to the smallest detail, every facet lovingly planned, in a manner which is both succinct and radical, full of wit yet at the same time with unforgiving, remorseless acerbity, the work, in its six episodes, takes a look at the conflict between the generations – and its definitive solution. An hour’s entertainment, bubbling over with irony and sarcasm - a refreshing comment on the social misery of the present time.

 

 

Casting Jesus – an extract from the description by Fritzi von Schoenebeck and Sandra Tschauner in the Videonale catalogue:

Christian Jankowski’s “Casting Jesus” shows the search for an actor for the role of the Son of God. Not a modern television studio, but a plain hall in Santo Spirito in Rome is the scene of a quite different casting show.

On the left-hand side of a two channel projection we can watch how, one after the other, 13 simply-clothed male protagonists appear and follow the directions of the three-man jury, which we see on the right. While the potential Jesus actors are mostly shown in full-length, we see the three jurors in close-up, hear their instructions and their – just like a real casting show – not always objective comments. In addition to their appearance, they are also asked to show their ability as actors with “typical” gestures or poses which one knows from Christian iconography. From the healing of imaginary illnesses and the Bearing of the Cross, right up to simulated death on the cross, the candidates must demonstrate their Jesus-qualities. In the final round one of the remaining candidates actually manages to meet the jury’s standards. The fact that the jury are representatives of the Vatican, and are playing their roles without a script, makes the situation even more scurrilous and shows the viewer quite clearly the incongruities of show business – and our image of Jesus as its leading representative.

 

 

Biographical data of the artist:

Christian Jankowski, b. 1968 in Göttingen, GER lives and works in Berlin GER studied at Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg, GER Exhibitions (Selection): 2012 Casting Jesus, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Utah, USA 2012 Die große Geste, Art and the City: Public Art Festival, Zuürich, SUI 2011 Jesus está aquí, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City, MEX 2011 All about my work and Me, Kunstwerke Berlin, GER 2010 The Perfect Gallery, Cube Gallery Manchester, GBR
Catalogue (in two languages) of VIDEONALE 2013

 

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Catalogue VIDEONALE.14

published by Distanz Verlag ISBN 978-3-95476-012-1 at a price of: 24.90 Euro and the DVD at a price of 9.90 Euro Package price of catalogue and DVD: 29.90 Euro
Available for purchase on the VIDEONALE.14 website v14.videonale.org

 

 

DATES OF VIDEONALE.14

Festival programme: Friday February 15 to Sunday February 17 2013

Closing event: Saturday April 6 and Sunday April 7 2013

Announcement of the KfW-Public Prize of the VIDEONALE.14: Sunday April 7 2013

 

 

OPENING HOURS:

Opening hours of Kunstmuseum Bonn: Tuesday to Sunday 11 AM – 6 PM

Wednesday 11 AM to 9 PM Monday - closed

 

 

ADMISSION PRICES:

7 EURO / reduced price 3.50 EURO (entry is valid for the whole museum)

 

 

Further information about Videonale can be found:

On the website: v14.videonale.org

Through the Videonale App available at the Appstore (supported by KfW Stiftung) 

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/videonale

or by mail: The Videonale-Newsletter provides regular information about the current programme. Application on: www.videonale.org 

 

 

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VIDEONALE.14 Förderer und Unterstützer / Supported and sponsored by:

VIDEONALE.14 wird gefördert von / is supported by: der Stadt Bonn, Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes Nordrheinwestfalen, KfW Stiftung, LVR, Kunststiftung NRW, Stiftung Kunst der Sparkasse in Bonn, ifa- Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, PwC- Stiftung Jugend- Bildung-Kultur, Rheinenergie Stiftung Kultur, Medienstiftung Kultur.

 

VIDEONALE.14 wird unterstützt von / is sponsored by: cine plus (Techniksponsor), KAMEHA Grand Bonn (preferred hotel partner), Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsch Brasilianische Gesellschaft, Monkey 47, Hotel Kanzler, IBIS Hotel Bonn, Schreinerei Kolb, Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst FHNW Basel

 

Kooperationspartner / Cooperation Partners: August Macke Haus, Bonner Kunstverein, Das Esszimmer, Deutsch Brasilianische Gesellschaft, Eine Art Club, Fabrik 45, Frankenbad Bonn, Gesellschaft für Kunst und Gestaltung Bonn, - 1/MinusEins Experimentallabor der KHM, Ivo Wessel Berlin, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Künstlerforum Bonn, Mühlenkampf, SK Stiftung Kultur, JULIA STOSCHEK FOUNDATION e.V., SSZ Sued, Videoart at Midnight, Kunsthistorisches Institut der Universität zu Köln, Kunsthistorisches Institut der Universität Bonn

 

Medienpartner / Media Partners: blink video, Brand Eins, DNCHT, Frieze, Parkett, QVEST, Spex, Springerin, Texte zur Kunst