Syphilis Too (II)
July 1 – 30, 2023
David Lewis, 53 The Circle, East Hampton, NY
Opening reception Saturday, July 1, 5 - 7 pm
East Hampton, NY - Syphilis II, curated by Adam Cohen and Anton Kern, builds upon their earlier exhibition, Syphilis, which was held at Rental Gallery in 2018. The exhibition continues to explore the idea of syphilis—a disease already famous in art history for its associations with eroticism, creativity, madness, decadence, and decay—as a metaphor for the poisonous contagion of contemporary media and communication.
By addressing the symptoms of the cultural moment through art, the curators hoped, through Syphilis (2018), to delay its advance. Syphilis II is less sanguine. The event horizon of media and communicative contagion has been crossed. Now there is only the dance macabre, weirdly celebratory because true, and comedic in direct proportion to its advancing horror. Five years ago it was hard to know how to protect oneself, nor against what, exactly. This summer brings us even closer to the poisonous edge.
The exhibition features the work of artists who have interpreted the theme in various ways. Some explore the spread of disease as a metaphor for the spread of ideas, while others delve into the emotional contagion that can occur through social media and instant messaging. The artists in Syphilis II use a range of media, including painting, sculpture, and photography, to explore the theme.
"The goal of Syphilis II is to continue the conversation started in the first exhibition and explore how contemporary communication intersects with our understanding of high bohemian desire and disease," says the Doctor. "Syphilitic acceleration, too. We hope that visitors will leave the exhibition with a greater appreciation for the ways in which our perceptions of disease are isomorphic with apocalyptic communication and doom.”
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Sarah Aibel, Darren Bader, Darren Bader & Jesse Willenbring, Pablo Barba, Georg Baselitz, Felix Beaudry, Gina Beavers, Beryl Cook, Cecily Brown, Alex Da Corte, Tomas Esson, Llyn Foulkes, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Sheree Hovsepian, Bryan Jabs, Roxanne Jackson, Marcus Jamal, Jeffrey Joyal, Charlotte Kingsnorth, Hein Koh, Austin Lee, Adam McEwen, Howie Michels, Joel Mesler, Pablo Picasso, Lara Schnitger and Kan Seidel.