Jonas Lipps

Jonas Lipps
30 June 2019 – 25 August 2019
Opening: Saturday, 29 January 2019, 7 pm
Venue: Halle fuer Kunst Lueneburg, Reichenbachstrasse 2, 21335 Lueneburg

An attempt to describe the works of Jonas Lipps would go something like this: Jonas Lipps draws. He predominantly uses ink, watercolors, color pencils, and casein on heterogeneous grounds, such as paper napkins, pizza boxes or found pieces of paper, to create “worlds” often described as surreal that are situated in socially repressive contexts (schools, administrative buildings, hospitals, police precincts etc.) and reveal a fascination by the absurd to sadistic occurrences there.
Due to the variegated grounds alone, each of Lipps’ works emanates something specific; one could also say something that is concentrated in itself. These are not series of drawings, on the contrary. Lipps’ pictures/scenarios stand for themselves, go in-depth, form craters into which one is drawn, and only in a second step do they seek a conversation with the neighboring drawings. Nothing really serious is negotiated either. At least not on the first level. Instead, we encounter narrations that function as quick jokes, pop tunes or dreams. But here, witticism is only interesting as a format (the brief story) and condensation technique. Anyone who has ever tried to be a comedian knows how hard it is to really get the punchline right. Failure and success lie quite close to each other. But Lipps succeeds with never-ending ease. Time and time again. This may have to do with wisdom of age and oddly corresponds with the way his pictures fall strangely out of time, but also with his evidently distanced view of things (and most likely also of himself).

Works by Jonas Lipps (*1979 Freiburg) have been presented et.al. at Bureau NY, New York (2018), Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2018, 2017), Gallery Celine, Glasgow (2017), The Duck, New York (2016), Grieder Contemporary, Zurich (2016, 2014), LISZT, Berlin (2015), walks news, Berlin (2015), Galerie der Stadt Schwaz (2015), Paradise Garage, Los Angeles (2015), Fuerstlich Fuerstenbergischen Sammlungen Donaueschingen (2014), Truth and Consequences, Geneva (2014), Cleopatra’s, New York (2014), Kunstverein Bremerhaven (2013), Prague Biennale (2013), M1, Hohenlockstedt (2013), Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong (2012), Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles (2012), Klosterfelde, Berlin (2010, 2006, 2004), Francesca Minini, Milan (2009), Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York (2008) and Gagosian Gallery, Berlin (2005).