Paul Thek occupied a place between high art and low art, between the
epic and the everyday. During his brief life (1933-1988), he went
against the grain of art world trends, humanizing the institutional
spaces of art with the force of his humor, spirituality, and character.
Twenty years after Thek's death from AIDS, we can now recognize his
influence on contemporary artists ranging from Vito Acconci and Bruce
Nauman to Matthew Barney, Mike Kelley, and Paul McCarthy, as well as Kai
Althoff, Jonathan Meese, and Thomas Hirschhorn. This book brings
together more than 300 of Thek's works--many of which are published here
for the first time--to offer the most comprehensive display of his work
yet seen. The book, which accompanies an exhibition at ZKM ? Museum of
Contemporary Art presenting Thek's work in dialogue with contemporary
art by young artists, includes painting, sculpture, drawing, and
installation work, as well as photographs documenting the room-size
environments into which Thek incorporated elements from art, literature,
theater, and religion. These works chart Thek's journey from legendary
outsider to foundational figure in contemporary art. In their antiheroic
diversity, Thek's works embody the art revolution of the 1960s; indeed,
Susan Sontag dedicated her classic Against Interpretation to him.
Thek's treatment of the body in such works as "Technological
Reliquaries," with their castings and replicas of human body parts,
tissue, and bones, both evoke the aura of Christian relics and
anticipate the work of Damien Hirst. The book, with more than 500 images
(300 in color) and nineteen essays by art historians, curators,
collectors, and artists, investigates Thek's work on its own terms, and
as a starting point for understanding the work of the many younger
artists Thek has influenced.Essays byJean-Christophe Ammann, Margrit
Brehm, Bazon Brock, Suzanne Delehanty, Harald Falckenberg, Marietta
Franke, Stefan Germer, Kim Gordon, Roland Groenenboom, Axel Heil, Gregor
Jansen, Mike Kelley, John Miller, Susanne Neubauer, Kenny Schachter,
Harald Szeemann, Annette Tietenberg, Peter Weibel, Ann Wilson