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SURREALISTIC APPLICATIONS OF THE RECLINING VENUS OF URBINO BY TITIAN
CALLED KENIA, CHLAMYDIA, NOSTALGIA AND MELANCHOLIA. ALL DONE IN A
DIFFERENT STYLE OF PAINTING, BUT WITH A CLEAR RESONANCE OF PICASSO,
CÉZANNE, DE CHIRICO, DUBUFFET, KAREL WILLINK AND A CONTEMPORARY
COMMERCIAL ILLUSTRATOR CALLED PAUL SPOONER, WHO DID A DUMMY OF
THE ORIGINAL RECLINING MANET NUDE ON PERMANENT EXHIBITION AT SOME
MECHANICAL THEATRE IN COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.
WHEN ASKED BY JOURNALIST WHETHER SCHOLTE HAD STOLEN THE IDEA FROM
SPOONER, SCHOLTE ANSWERED THAT HE HAD JUST CUT OUT A PICTURE FROM
AN ADVERTISEMENT IN A MAGAZINE. HE DID NOT KNOW THAT THE RECLINING
NUDE DUMMY WAS SPOONER'S IDEA. MOREOVER SCHOLTE DID NOT CARE. IN
THE ART OF PAINTING EVERBODY BORROWS FROM THE TRADITION. MANET
BORROWED FROM TITIAN AND GIORGIONE TO MAKE HIS POINT. END OF
DISCUSSION. AS IT TURNED OUT, APPROPRIATORY SAMPLING HAD ITS OWN
STANDARDS OF REALITY. IN THE THEORY OF PAINTING EVERYTHING WAS
POSSIBLE. IN SCHOLTE'S VIEW, WHAT MATTERED IN DEPICTING THE RECLINING NUDE WAS ONLY THE LEFT HAND OF THE MODEL COVERING HER PUBIC HAIR,
SUGGESTING THE POSSIBILITY OF MASTURBATION. SCHOLTE SIMPLY DEMONSTRATED THE DISCOVERY OF EARTHLY HEAVEN. WHY DID PEOPLE BUY SCHOLTE'S
PAINTINGS? A POSSIBLE ANSWER IS THAT A GROUP OF COLLECTORS LIKED THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND IT. THEY BOUGHT THE MENTAL COMPLEX, THAT THE PIECES
EXPRESSED. PAINTING HAD BECOME A FETISH, LIKE GOLD, JEWELS, MONEY, EXPENSIVE CARS, WOMEN, FASHION, MOVIES, PARTIES OR WHATEVER THINGS THAT
MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND. DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE 80S THE YOUNG WILD PAINTING FASHION TRULY HAD REVERSED, GIVING RISE TO VARIOUS BRANDS
OF ABSTRACTION, OF WHICH SCHOLTE'S VERSION JUST HAPPENED TO BE AVERYSUCCESFULLONE.
MEANWHILE WHAT WAS SEBASTIAAN SPIT DOING IN AMSTERDAM? I RENTED A STUDIO SPACE AT HELMERSTREET, NEAR LEIDEN SQUARE, AND STARTED
FREQUENTING A PLACE CALLED CAPTAIN ZEPPOS, NEAR THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT, WHERE ARTISTS RUSHED TO DRINK FREE BEERS, THERE I MET A GUY CALLED
RUFUS COLLINS, DIRECTOR OF THE DNA PERFORMANCE GROUP. HE HAD BEEN THE FRONTMAN OF THE LEGENDARY LIVING THEATRE FROM NEW YORK. I HUNG OUT
AT CAFÉ OBLOMOV IN REGULIERSDWARS STREET, WHERE ALL THE CLUBS WERE, GAY AND OTHERWISE. THERE I MET SOMEBODY FROM ANOTHER PERFORMANCE
JOINT: COSMIC ILLUSION. THEY STAGED A BIG MUSICAL: THE MERCHANT OF AMSTERDAM, BASED ON SHAKESPEARE'S MERCHANT OF VENICE. IT WAS ALL ACOUT
SELLING YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL. I DID THE DECORATION AND STAGE PROPS A FRIEND OF MINE, ROB DE VRIJ, WAS ACQUAINTED WITH JULIE STANZAK, A
DANCER OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET. IN 1988 SHE WAS NEWLY ENGAGED BY PINA BAUSCH'S DANCE THEATRE COMPANY IN WUPPERTAL, GERMANY. PINA
BAUSCH HAD BEEN A DANCE HIT FOR A DECADE. PROBABLY HER MOST FAMOUS PIECE IS CAFÉ MÜLLER (1980), PERFORMED BY AN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL
CAST. SOI HOPPED ALONG IN A CAR TO WUPPERTAL AND MET DANA SAPIRO, WHO WAS A PERFORMER IN THE BAUSCH CAST BORN AT FLUSHING, NEW YORK. WE
FELL IN LOVE. BY THAT TIME IT WAS CLEAR TO ME, I MUST LEAVE AMSTERDAM. THE GERMAN ART CLIMATE IN THE RUHR AREA WAS MUCH MORE CONGENIAL TO
ARTISTS LIKE ME, WHO DID NOT WANT TO DEPEND EXCLUSIVELY ON DUTCH STATE SUBSIDIES. I WANTED TO MAKE MONEY ON THE FREE ART MARKET. I GOT MY
FIRST SHOW AT CHÈSSNI GALLERY IN ALTOONA, A SUBURB OF HAMBURG ON THE ELBE RIVER. I SOLD SOME ARUBA LANDSCAPES MIDDLE SIZE FORMAT, -DONE IN
NIJMEGEN AND AMSTERDAM-, FOR ABOUT 1000 DEUTSCHMARK APIECE. MY FRIEND ROB DE VRIJ, JULIE STANZAK AND DENA WERE FRIENDS TO A JAPANESE
DANCER MARIKO AOYYAMA. AOYAMA IS A JAPANESE WORD FOR MOUNTAIN. ANOTHER DANCER, JOSÉ KAXTUA, WAS A SPANISH GUY OF BASQUE ORIGIN. DEVRIJ,
KAXTUA AND I STARTED A PAINTING GROUP, CALLED AYOYAMA. WE GOT SOME GOOD PUBLICITY AND SOLD OUR WORK. I STARTED LIVING WITH DANA SAPIRO IN
AN APARTMENT DOWNTOWN WUPPERTAL ON THE THIRD FLOOR OF A BIG HOUSE AND COULD WORK IN AN ENORMOUS STUDIO. THE BAUSCH COMPANY WAS
FAMOUS BY THEN AND I TRAVELLED IN ITS WAKE TO PARIS TO SEE NEW SHOWS AND VISIT GALLERIES."
NOVEMBER 1988, DURING ART COLOGNE FAIR, SEBASTIAAN, FROM NEARBY WUPPERTAL, VISITED THE BELGIAN NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE WESTSIDE OF THE OLD CITY.
BY THAT TIME SOME FIFTY ART GALLERIES HAD OPENED A SHOP IN AN AREA OF ABOUT ONE SQUARE KILOMETER BETWEEN THE NOTHERN RAILROAD TRACKS
AT GLADBACHER STREET, FERNSEHTURM, AND SOUTHERN HANSARING UP TILL LINDEN STREET IN THE WEST. THE FEW STREETS IN BETWEEN WERE JUST
PACKED WITH GALLERIES. AT THE TIME GISELA CAPITAINE GALLERY SHOWED CHRISTOPHER WOOL; DANIEL BUCHHOLZ GALLERY CARRIED JOHN ARMLEDER
AND IMI KNOBEL. THE GALLERIES OF MAX HETZLER, TANJA GRÜNERT, JABLONSKI, ALL BASED AT VENLOERSTRASSE19, SHOWED JEFF KOONS AND THOMAS STRUTH,
OPIE AND PETER HALLEY. A BIT FURTHER GALERIE JOHNSEN SCHÖTTLE HAD EXPOSITIONS OF NEW WORK BY JAN KNAP, PHILLIP TAAFFE AND MAIER VAISMANN.
THE AMSTERDAM BASED GALLERIES TORCH (ADRIAAN TEN HAVE) AND ONRUST (MILCO ONRUST) OPENED UP A COLOGNE BRANCHE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
RAILROAD TRACKS AT NEUSS STREET. WITHIN THIS CRITICAL MASS ART LIFE WAS BUZZING IN A MULTITUDE OF CAFÉS, RESTAURANTS AND CLUBS AROUND
FRIEZENPLATZ ATPFAFFGEN, DOS ECKIES, HAMMERSTEIN, KÖNIGSWASSER, CAFÉ ZENTRAL AND PINK FLAMINGO. MOST VISITING ARTISTS STAYED AT THE HOTEL
CHELSEA OVER THE CAFÉ ZENTRAL AT LINDENALLEE, WHERE THE NOTORIOUS DADAÏST MARTIN KIPPENBERGER (KIPPI) WAS A PERMANENT ARTIST IN
RESIDENCE. THE DEAL WITH DIRECTOR PROFESSOR DOCTOR WERNER PETERS WAS TO SIMPLY LEAVE AN ART WORK BEHIND IN THE HOTEL ROOM, TAKING CARE OF
A WEEK'S RESIDENCE, BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER INCLUDED. AT NIGHT THE ART CROWD COULD LISTEN IN ON A TALK BY PHILOSOPHER PETER SLOTERDIJK
ON THE PHENOMENON OF EURO TAOISM, BEFORE HITTING THE DANCE FLOORS OF ALTE WARTESAAL AND NEUSCHWANSTEIN. THE CRÈME DE LA CRÈME OF THE
ART SCENE USED TO MEET ON A LAZY SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE EASTASLAC MUSEUM FOR GREEN TEA AND CHINESE CANDY, AFTER A LEISURE STROLL
THROUGH A WELL KEPT JAPANESE GARDEN. I WAS IN TOWN FOR PREPARING A PERFORMANCE AT GALLERY SOPHIA UNGERS ON AACHENER STREET, CALLED:
ON SUBVERSION. SOPHIA UNGERS CARRIED ARTISTS LIKE REBECCA HORN AND ROSEMARIE TRÖCKEL. ALTHOUGH SEBASTIAN SPIT AND I WERE PRESENT AT THE
SAME TIME, OUR PATHS NEVER CROSSED.I JUST KNEW THE NAME PAUL MAENZ, BECAUSE OF A SUCCESFULL SECOND PORTRAITS SHOW BY ROB SCHOLTE EARLIER
THAT YEAR. MAENZ WAS THE ART GURU OF GERMANY. THE MAN HAD MADE ARTISTS LIKE WALTHER DAHN AND DOKOUPIL FAMOUS. GALERIES FROM COLOGNE
OPENED UP BRANCHES IN NEW YORK. YOU ENTERED THE GALLERY FROM BISMARCK STREET THROUGH A BIG WHITE GATE. THEN THERE WAS A COURT WITH TREES
AND FLOWERS. IT WAS A HUGE GALLERY, COMPLETELY PAINTED WHITE AND THERE WERE WHITE COLUMNS, LIKE IN a ROMAN TEMPLE. ONE FLOOR UP WAS THE
STUDIO OF GERHARD RICHTER. I DO REMEMER A SHOW WITH MAJOR NEW WORKS BY FRANCESCO CLEMENTE. ON THE INVITATION CARD THERE WAS PORTRAIT OF
CLEMENTE, HOLDING A SCULPTURED LITTLE WHITE HAND IN HIS OWN HAND."
SPIT WENT BACK TO WUPPERTAL, -THE OLD TEXTILE CITY-, TO HIS STUDIO AT KOLKMAN HOUSE. IT HAD BEEN A TEXTILE EXCHANGE IN JEWISH HANDS WITH A TILED
GATE RIGHT ON THE WUPPER RIVER. AT THE GROUND FLOOR WAS A SPANISH SUPERMARKET. WHEN HE MOVED IN, THE BUILDING WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY.
LITTLE BY LITTLE ARTISTS STARTED TO OCCUPY STUDIOS. THEN THE CITY OF WUPPERTAL BOUGHT THE BUILDING. JOHANNUS RAU, THE BUND ESPRESIDENT OF
NORDRHEIN-WESTPHALEN, WAS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOFAUE STUDIO COMMITTEE. SPIT WORKED AT THE HOFAUE SPACE UNTILL1997.
ELEVEN YEARS LATER ON A COLD JANUARY DAY IN 2008, ON MY WAY FROM BERLIN TO FLUSHING, I VISITED THE BUILDING. I WAS CURIOUS WHAT WUPPERTAL
LOOKED LIKE BY NOW. I HAD KNOWN THE CITY SINCE THE LATE SEVENTIES. AS AN AMSTERDAM BASED MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN GROUP OF YOUNG
CRIMINOLOGISTS, I VISITED PROFESSOR MANFRED BRUSTEN AT WUPPERTAL UNIVERSITY. BY THEN HIS WIFE RAN AN ART GALLERY DOWNTOWN. BRUSTEN WAS
THE LEADING GERMAN SCIENTIST ON THE THEORY OF STATE CONTROL OF SOCIAL DEVIANCE BY MINISTRIES OF JUSTICE, THE HOME OFFICE, POLICE DEPARTMENTS,
PRISONS AND THE EMERGING PRIVATE SECURITY BUSINESS. HE WAS THE BIG AUTHORITY ORGANIZING AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY COMPARATIVE RESEARCH
PROJECT ON STATE SECURITY, LAW 8c ORDER, TERRORISM AND DEMOCRATIC CONTROL CARRIED OUT IN ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY. THE
RESULTS OF THIS GIGANTIC RESEARCH PROJECT WERE PUBLISHED IN A BOOK, THAT WAS PRESENTED IN LONDONDERRY, NORTHERN IRELAND IN SEPTEMBER 1981.
ALL OF US CRIMINOLOGISTS GATHERED AT THE BELFAST RAILWAY STATION, WHERE WE WAITED FOR OUR TRAIN TO LONDONDERRY. WE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR
AN HOUR DUE THE AN ELABORATE SECURITY CHECK BY THE POLICE. WHEN THE TRAIN FINALLY ARRIVED AND WAS SLOWLY APPROACHING OUR PLATFORM, IT
SUDDENLY RAN OF THE TRACK AND WENT DOWN THE HILL INTO THE BUSHES BELOW. SABOTAGE? SO MUCH FOR STATE SECURITY. WE WERE NOT SURPRIZED AT
ALL. THE DAY BEFORE, DURING A VISIT OF THE FAMOUS JAMESON WHISKY FACTORY, SOME ANONYMOUS MYSTERY GUEST HAD TURNED THE WRONG WHISKY
TAP. HUNDREDS OF GALLONS OF PRECIOUS OLD BUSHMILL FLOWED INTO A NEARBY RIVER, CAUSING THE FISH TO FLOAT DOWNSTREAM BELLY UP. SHIT
HAPPENS, WE TOLD EACH OTHER. SO BUSSES WERE CHARTERED AND WE REACHED LONDONDERRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. BUT BRUSTEN, WHO FELT
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCOVENIENCE, EXHAUSTED HIMSELF THE NEXT MORNING AT THE OPENING OF THE CRIMINOLOGY CONFERENCE IN A LONG SPEECH ON
THE TACIT RESISTENCE TACTICS OF THE PEOPLE OF NORTHERN IRELAND. AS HE STRESSED THE NECESSITY FOR ACADEMIC NEUTRALITY, MODESTY, RESPECT
AND AN OPTIMISTIC ATTITUDE TOWARDS SUBVERSION, HIS VOICE BECAME LOUDER AND LOUDER. FINALLY HE DgSPARATELY SHOUTED THAT IT WAS ALL A
MISUNDERSTANDING IN COMMUNICATION WE HAD BEEN THE VICTIM OF. THE AUDIENCE ROSE AS ONE MAN AND BRUSTEN GOT A STANDING OVATION. OUR HERO
FROM WUPPERTAL STOLE THE SHOW. I WENT BACK TO WUPPERTAL SHORTLY AFTER. LEAVING THE FIELD OF ACADEMIC CRIMINOLOGY, I HAD TURNED INTO A
SCRIPTWRITER FOR THE AMSTERDAM BASED DANCE COMPANY: FALSE BLOOD, THAT WAS, -MAINLY FOR ITS BRAND OF DRAMATIC IMPROVISATION-, LARGELY
INFLUENCED BY PINA BAUSCH. I VISITED THE SCHAUSPIELHAUS AND SAW A PERFORMANCE OF CAFÉ MÜLLER. IT WAS AN EYE OPENER.
THIRTY YEARS LATER I WAS BACK IN TOWN AND WALKED THE OLD CENTER, ACCOMPANIED BY SPIT. DANA SAPIRO, IN A DASHING OUTFIT, HAD GONE SHOPPING
WITH HER DAUGHTER PIA PATAROZZI. SPIT AND I PASSED THE TANZTHEATER ON THE BORDER OF THE RUSHING WUPPER, ABOVE WHICH AN 18 KILOMETER LONG
INGENIOUS METAL CONSTRUCTION HAD BEEN ERECTED, THAT CARRIED A CABLE TRAIN, THE SO-CALLED SCHWEBEBAHN. FROM ABOVE, THE CITY LOOKED LIKE AN
EXTENDED RIBBON, DOTTED WITH THE VILLA'S OF THE RICH AND SUPER RICH TEXTILE BARONS. ON THE SLOPES OF A BASIN, SURROUNDED BY A CIRCUS OF
MOUNTAINS, THAT PRACTICALLY CLOSED OFF THE LONG NARROW VALLEY FROM THE SURROUNDING REGION, HUNG A THICK GREY MIST. ALL THE WAY TO THE
NORTHEASTERN OUTSKIRTS OF THE RUHR AREA HEAVEN ABOVE WAS INVISIBLEAS A CONSEQUENCE THE AIR OVER WUPPERTAL IS OF A BAD QUALITY. MOSTLY
CLOUDY, POLLUTED BY FACTORY SMOG, WUPPERTAL IS A VERY UNHEALTHY PLACE. EVERYWHERE YOU GO, YOU HEAR THE POUNDING SOUND OF AUTOBAHN
TRAFFIC. ESPECIALLY FOR DANA SAPIRO, BORN AT THE WINDY SEASIDE OF FLUSHING MEADOWS AT THE UPPER WESTERN TIP OF LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK THE
GENERAL CLIMATE BECAME UNBEARABLE. NEVERTHELESS, WUPPERTAL WAS SEBASTIAAN AND DANA'S TIME OF GLORY.
SEBASTIAAN SHOWED ME HIS OLD STUDIO AT THE RENOVATED HOFAUE, A MUSIC SCHOOL NOW SURROUNDED BY A NUMBER OF SHABBY BROTHELS. WE HEADED
FOR A BEER IN A WORKER'S BAR OPPOSITE OF THE MAX VAUDEVILLE THEATRE. LIKE FLUSHING, WUPPERTAL IS A PROLETARIAN TOWN. NO EXPENSIVE SHOPS.
INSTEAD YOU FIND LOTS OF POOR RAMBLERS AND TROLLOPS ROAMING THE STREETS. SEBASTIAAN, ALWAYS OPTIMISTIC, MENTIONED THE DONATION BY THE
TEXTILE MILLIONAIRE ROSENKRANTZ TO THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN. THE ARTPIECE CONSISTS OFTHOUSANDS OF METAL FACES VISITORS CAN WALK ON.
WAS IT A FAR CRY FROM THE HISTORICAL GERMAN MENTAL POLLUTION OF THE HOLOCAUST? ROSENKRANTZ HAD SIX CHILDREN. ALL CHILDREN RECEIVED A
LIFE LONG TUITION OF 6000 EURO'S A MONTH. SPIT KNEW THE COLLECTOR AND MECENAS ROSENKRANTZ PERSONALLY. ALSO HE KNEW ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS,
"A VERY BAD ACTRESS", WHO PLAYED LEADING PARTS IN THE LOCAL THEATRE. IN 1997 SPIT MOVED TO ANOTHER STUDIO IN THE OLD HAPPICH FACTORY IN
ELBERFED AT THE BORDER OF TOWN, CLOSE TO THE INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENT OF WICHLINGHAUSEN. WITH A VIEW OVER THE CLOUDED CITY HE STARTED TO
WORK. THE PLACE WAS A RIBBON FACTORY. IT PRODUCED PLAITED MATERIALS, STRINGS, BELTS FOR CLOSING OFF TRUCK HOODS. ALL DAY LONG THERE WAS A
TERRIBLE INDUSTRIAL NOISE. ACCESS TO THE STUDIO WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. CANVASSES HAD TO BE MOVED THROUGH A SMALL TUNNEL. IN THIS NEW SET
TING A SECOND ART COLLECTIVE WAS BORN: NATUR LABOR. AGAIN WITH TWO OTHER LOCAL PAINTERS, HELGE HOMMES AND CHRISTIAN VON GRUMBKOW, SPIT
WAS ORGANIZING HIS FUTURE. ALL PAINTERS SHOWEDAT THE LOCAL EPIKUR GALERIE. NATUR LABOR COLLECTIVE VISITED THE KASSEL DOCUMENTA 1997,
