9. 26. 2018
Press Release

KOTARO NUKAGA is pleased to announce their inaugural exhibition by the London and Mexico City based conceptual artist StefanBrüggemann, his first appearance in Japan. Titled “HA HA WHAT DOES THIS REPRESENT? WHAT DO YOU REPRESENT?”, the show
will focus on ʻCARTOON PAINTINGSʼ and ʻPUDDLE PAINTINGSʼ from a series that Brüggemann has been working on in recent years,
as well as showcasing his latest series of ʻHYPER-POEM PAINTINGSʼ.

The concept of Brüggemann's works has always been to question contemporary society and artistic processes by adopting acritical, often provocative and ironic attitude towards them. By carefully inserting a certain pop sensibility into conceptual practices,Brüggemann seeks to create his ʻminimal popʼ aesthetic. This strategy is based on his approach to quote the elements and strategiesof the classic art movement of the 20th century.

The idea of ʻCARTOON PAINTINGSʼ derives from an original satirical cartoon from the series How to Look at Looking by theAmerican artist Ad Reinhardt made in the late 1950s. The cartoon mocks the common reception of Abstract Expressionism, with abesuited visitor pointing to a painting and asking ʻWhat does this represent?ʼ The painting startles him with the retort ʻWhat do yourepresent?ʼ Brüggemann pastes multiple inkjet prints of the cartoon onto white canvases before adding small hand appliedbrushstrokes in black oil paint and ink in patterns that recall digital patination. The works operate as a reflection on ourcontemporary internet culture of ʻctrl + copy + pasteʼ; a phenomenon inconceivable when the cartoon was first published. The meansof reproducing images have developed from laborious manual application and screen printing to instant digital impressions, while
our relationship with information has undergone a wholesale transformation from precious resource to overabundant material.
Though attitudes and technologies have changed, Brüggemann reminds us that Reinhardtʼs question about how we understandperception itself, however, remains as potent as ever.

ʻPUDDLE PAINTINGSʼ employ elements such as handwritten words and combine them with the raw application of poured aluminum
paint. The artistʼs use of a double negative ‒ the term ʻNOʼ and its partial concealment ‒ extends his interest in repetition ad infinitum.
The appearance of coagulated silver paint makes direct reference to techniques of abstract expressionism and the notion ofgestural action. In particular, they allude to Jackson Pollockʼs ʻdripʼ technique deemed powerfully expressive. The ʻNew York Schoolʼ
used abstraction to deliver a specific emotional charge; progressively the canvas became an arena in which to act, and, according toseminal critic Harold Rosenberg, was transformed from a picture to an event. Brüggemannʼs works echo the critique of painting andattempts to further erode the tropes of personal expression, namely style and signature. The resulting canvases function asʻanti-paintingsʼ since they fulfil but the most rudimentary conditions of painting, yet are entirely lacking in emotion and painterly
quality.

With similarities to his other series,ʻHYPER-POEM PAINTINGSʼ is a conceptual project to suspect the contemporary society andartistic process; namely in this series, immediacy of todayʼs hyper-speed society. Brüggemann utilizes vocabulary of our present
time to create what he calls poems. The artist states that "the paintings are a poetic existential confrontation with the self in ouraccelerated times." This is reflected in the way the paintings are made from computer generated text, printed on A4 sheets of paperand glued on canvas in an arbitrary fashion; the whole process happening rapidly against time.

■Exhibition Outline
Artist：Stefan Brüggemann
Title ：HA HA WHAT DOES THIS REPRESENT?

WHAT DO YOU REPRESENT?

Date：2018/10/20 (Sat) 〜 2018/12/20 (Thu)Open Hours：11:00〜18:00 (Tue, Wed, Thu + Sat)
11:00〜20:00 (Fri)Private View：※Closed on Sun, Mon and National Holidays10/20(Sat) 17:00〜, in presence of the artist.

Opening Party：10/20(Sat) 20:00〜, in presence of the artist.

Venue: KOTARO NUKAGA
Venue: T.Y. HARBOR RIVER LOUNGE■VenueExhibition：KOTARO NUKAGATERRADA Art Complex 3F, 1-33-10 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-0002, Japan

Access：8 - minutes walk from Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Rinkai Line "Tennoz Isle Station" B Exit
10 - minutes walk from Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line "Tennoz Isle Station" South Exit
8 - minutes walk from Keikyu Line "Shinbanba Station" North Exit
3 - minutes walk from Toei bus "Tennozu bashi bus stop"(Take the Toei bus"品 91 or 品 98" from "Shinagawa Station" Konan Exit )(Take the Toei bus"品 93" from "Meguro Station" )Opening Party：T.Y. HARBOR RIVER LOUNGE
2-1-3 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-0002, Japan

Access：5 - minutes walk from Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Rinkai Line "Tennoz Isle Station" B Exit
5 - minutes walk from Tokyo Monorail Haneda Airport Line "Tennoz Isle Station" South Exit
8 - minutes walk from TERRADA Art Complex" KOTARO NUKAGA "■FEATURED KEY WORKSUNTITLED (CARTOON PAINTING)

CARTOON PAINTING (BARCODE)

Oil paint and archival inkjet print on canvas

Graphite, paper, glue and acrylic on canvas

2017

2018

200 × 136 cm

80 × 60 cm

HYPER-POEM PAINTING (BARCODESOUL)
Graphite, paper, glue and acrylic on canvas
2018
80 × 60 cm

■Artist Profile

Stefan Brüggemann
Born：Mexico City, Mexico, 1975
Resides：Lives and works in Mexico City and London- SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018：Parra & Romero, ʻHigh Speed Contrastʼ, Ibiza, Spain
2017：Hauser & Wirth, ʻTake Put and Abandonʼ, Zurich, Switzerland
2016：Fundació Gaspar, ʻTrashʼ, Barcelona, Spain
Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporánea, ʻTo Be Political It Has To Look Niceʼ, Galicia, Spain
Hauser & Wirth, ʻStefan Brüggemannʼ, New York, USA
2015：Parra & Romero, ʻTimelessʼ, Ibiza, Spain
Centro Roberto Garza Sada, ʻPuddle Paintingsʼ, Nuevo León, Mexico
GAM, ʻHeadlines & Last Line in the Movies (Protest Pavilion)ʼ, Mexico City, Mexico
2014：Galeria Múrias Centeno, ʻYou Keep Out Of This (Puddle Paintings and Text Pieces)ʼ, Lisbon, Portugal
Independent Projects, Parra & Romero, ʻHeadlines & Last Line in the Movies (fluorescent)ʼ, New York, USA
Contemporary Art Gallery, ʻHeadlines & Last Line in the Movies (protest)ʼ, Vancouver, Canada
Parra & Romero, ʻThis Is Not An Exitʼ, Madrid, Spain
The Wall South Kensington, Queens Gate and Harrington Road, ʻ1997 ‒ 2014 Text piecesʼ, London, United Kingdom- GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Selected)
2018：Collection Lambert, ʻLAMBERT COLLECTION'S MASTER PIECESʼ, Avignon, France
City Circuit for Contemporary Arts, ʻPlayʼ, Kortrijik, Belgium
2017：The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, ʻThe Art Show: Millennium Art in Taguchi Art Collectionʼ, Gunma, JapanGaleria Municipal do Porto, ʻThem Or Us! ʼ, Porto, Portugal
Hauser & Wirth, ʻPortable Art: A Project by Celia Fornerʼ, New York, USA
2016：Parra & Romero, ʻOutdoor Sculpture Projectʼ, Ibiza, Spain
Parra & Romero, ʻAccrochageʼ, Madrid, Spain
Halle14, ʻCapitalist Melancholiaʼ, Leipzig, Germany
2015：Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, ʻIn Girum Imus Nocte et Consumimur Igniʼ, Mexico City, Mexico
Sheffield Museum, ʻGoing Public: International Art Collectors in Sheffieldʼ, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Espacio Monitor, ʻMúltiple: Polígrafa Obra Gráficaʼ, Caracas, Venezuela
2014：Parra & Romero, ʻEpicentre: Conversations and Discussions Between Artistsʼ, Ibiza, Spain
Clint Roenisch Gallery, ʻFirst The Pleasure, Then The Thesisʼ, Toronto, Canada■Press Contact Details
For more information, please contact: Ryoko Kurachi
EMAIL：info@kotaronukaga.com
URL：www.nukaga.co.jp
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