Adrian Ghenie: The Hooligans

Ghenie’s meditation on the idea of hooliganism, examining the role of rebellion in the artistic process, is applied here toward an excavation of art history and European history. -Art Observed

This book documents a selection of works by artist Adrian Ghenie (born 1977) included in his exhibition The Hooligans. The artist’s newest body of work, these nine paintings and three drawings continue Ghenie’s exploration of abstracting figures, layering shapes and gestural painting techniques to create complex images intertwined with art historical narratives. Influenced by Impressionist painters, as well as Turner, Van Gogh and Gauguin, Ghenie’s meditation on the idea of hooliganism examines the role of rebellion in an artist’s process, working to reject or ignore traditionalism to create the new. An art historical text by Apsara DiQuinzio traces the trajectory of Ghenie’s practice through to today. In her new text, Masha Tupitsyn discusses the concept of the double, looking at its history in philosophy, literature, film and art.