Jonathan Meese: The Arch-State of Atlantisis

by Jonathan Meese (Artist), Oliver Kornhoff (Contributor), Daniel Schreiber (Contributor)

This volume collects the complete sculptural work of Jonathan Meese―which tend to quickly spill over into paintings, installation, video and collage. Meese is the maker of his own cosmos, which is inhabited by Caligula, Stalin, the Marquis de Sade, Richard Wagner, Balthus and Dr. No, to name only a few. Pursuing this cosmos, Meese has now rediscovered Atlantis and here reaches “The Arch-State of Atlantisis.”

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2010

About the author

Jonathan Meese is a contemporary German artist. His works include paintings, sculptures, performances and installation or a combination of all of the above. He calls himself the "Ant of art", a pun on the resemblance of the german word for ant, Ameise, and his last name, but it is also a description of his mode of operation: he is constantly in action for the sake of art. He also designs theater sets and wrote and starred in a play called "De Frau: Dr. Poundaddylein - Dr. Ezodysseusszeusuzur" in 2007 at the Volksbühne Theater.
His usage of Third Reich symbols and gestures is seen as controversal in Germany, but as he explains in his work, this is part of his plan to diminish their symbolical power. Currently he is promoting the Dictatorship of Art as a method to overcome the faults and limitations of modern day states and democracies. His goal is to set the thing itself, art, as a ruler and not some human being.