SIDE BY SIDE GALLERY AKIM MONET GmbH is pleased to announce an exhibition of early 20th century Master Prints of German Expressionism, in conversation with sculptures by Berlin-based contemporary artist Satch Hoyt.

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German Expressionist Master Prints:

ERICH HECKEL (1883-1970)
ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (1880-1938)
OTTO MÜLLER (1874-1930)
EMIL NOLDE (1867-1956)
MAX PECHSTEIN (1881–1955)
KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF (1884–1976)

in conversation with sculptures by:

SATCH HOYT (b. 1957)

Curated by:

AKIM MONET (b. 1968)

Sex, the most basic and primal of human instincts was at the core of many Expressionist works.

Death is inevitable. This universal theme became even more potent and relevant for Expressionist artists in an age marked by war and social upheaval.

Upon discovering German Expressionist graphics from the beginning of the 20th century, it is quite striking to see how often the same artists addressed both the seemingly contradictory themes of sex and death.

Of course, the insouciance and enthusiasm of the first decade of the 20th century soon gave way to the horror of the first world war, and to the carnage and destruction that spread through Europe like wild-fire.

Nevertheless, as one examines their multilayered meaning, both these notions of death and sex are in fact often interchangeable. In Elizabethan times "dying" was used as a metaphor for experiencing an orgasm. Conversely, death is seen in certain cultures as the ultimate bliss.

It is in the spirit of Charles Bukowskiʼs words "SEX IS KICKING DEATH IN THE ASS WHILE SINGING” that Side by Side Gallery Akim Monet explores these themes through the work of a selection of early 20th century German expressionist artists.

Concurrently, in order to create a bridge to the early 21st century, the gallery has invited Berlin-based contemporary artist Satch Hoyt to respond to the German Expressionist prints.

Satch Hoyt’s FRAGMENTED (THE ACT OF RAPE IN WARTIME) investigates the red army rape of German women during the 1945 soviet occupation of Berlin. Statistics state that two million women were raped in Germany, many, more than once. Many women killed themselves rather than comply with the soviets. Many men killed themselves and their wives rather than suffer the indignity of rape.

The porcelain figurines executed in Berlin in 2009-12 are made of broken fragments from the 1945 bombing of Berlin. Broken treasures from bombed homes, the fragmented remains of fragmented lives. In general each figurine is comprised of 4 different fragments. Some of the figurines seek to portray the physical and moral devastation, Pain and trauma, endured by the raped victims. Others portray the red army conquerors as lustful cowardly creatures. These fragments are exhumed by a woman who digs at various landfills around Berlin the Kriegsmulle (war trash) as she refers to it, is then sold by her at a Berlin flea Market.

The exhibition will feature an original soundtrack:

SATCH HOYT “Fragmented Suite” (2012)