PUBLICATIONS

Catalogue of the group show Back to the USA of 1993. Its subtitle, Pattern & Decoration—New Image (Painting)—New Wave—New Expressionism— Graffiti, indicated its specific field of interest, and it included the work of forty-seven American artists. With Klaus Honnef as its principal curator, and Martin Kunz as co-curator, the exhibition was hosted at the museums of Lucerne, Bonn and Stuttgart, and presented itself as a major overview of one of the least exhibited aspects of American art: the entire genre of “New Image Painting” (the term now generally employed for all of the above) that’s based on narrative realism and directly addresses reality by way of photographs, sculptures, installations and performances. It also offered documentation of a new and powerful presence of women artists, which was a relatively new departure in the world of American art. The exhibition found its first European venue at Kunstmuseum Luzern, and then traveled in the same form to the museums of the other two cities. Of the forty-seven artists, many at that time were still little known—such as J. M. Basquiat, Keith Haring, Susan Rothenberg, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Julian Schnabel, Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Longo, Robert Kushner, or Matt Mullican—but each, within the show, had a space of his or her own. Among the artists who at time were better known: Neil Jenney, painting; Lynda Benglis and John Ahearn, sculpture; William Wegman and Cindy Sherman, photography; Laurie Anderson, performance. text by EM Catalog of the 1981 group exhibition "Back to the USA" with the subtitle indicative of the fields of interest: Pattern & Decoration- New Image-New Wawe- New Expressionism, Graffiti and involving 47 American artists. The exhibition, which traveled to the three museums in Lucerne, Bonn and Stuttgart, was curated by Klaus Honnef and Martin Kunz and figured as a major retrospective on one of the little-showed aspects of American art (with the genres mentioned above): that of narrative realism and confrontation with reality. Some among the 47 artists were still little known such as: Basquiat, Keith Harring, Susan Rothenberg & David Salle , Eric Fischi, Julian Schnabel but each possessed its own exhibition space within the retrospective. Finally, among the most notable were: for painting: Neil Jenney, for sculpture: Lynda Benglis and John Ahearn, for photography: William Wegman and Cindy Sherman, and for performance: Laurie Anderson.

Exhibition catalogue. Kunstmuseum Luzern, May 29 - July 24 (Traveling exhibition: Bonn, Stuttgart). Edited by Klaus Honnef, and Barbara Kückels. Foreword: Martin Kunz, Christoph B. Rüger, and Tilman Osterwold. Texts: Klaus Honnef, and Gabriele Honnef-Harling