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The
Rape of Creativity
Modern
Art Oxford
until June 8
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By
Jenny Enarsson
Jake
and Dinos Chapman are known for being shocking, irreverent and blasphemous.
Their
new exhibition at Modern Art Oxford will most likely shock some
– but probably because of its form than its content.
 The
point for the Chapmans is not to make a statement but to press
the right buttons and wind people up.
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| Jenny
Enarsson |
The
exhibition features different media – there are paintings, drawings,
etchings, wood carvings, and installations.
The
exhibition is entirely made up of new pieces but refers back to
much of their previous work.
The
brothers – who always sign their pieces jointly regardless of who
actually created it – are still obsessed with the iconography of
Nazi Germany and McDonald’s.
The
exhibition has recurring themes of swastikas, black, red and white
symbols, McDonald's golden arches and McDonald's own mascot, Ronald
McDonald.
Insult
to Injury is made up of an 80-piece series of Goya etchings – Disasters
of War – which the brothers bought for £25,000.
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Insult to Injury - Jake & Dinos Chapman 2003. |
They
have ‘rectified’ it through covering the etchings with cartoon-like
faces of clowns, donkeys mice and the like.
The
Rape of Creativity, which gave its name to the entire exhibition,
is an eerie installation consisting of a real caravan situated in
slightly bizarre surroundings.
It
seems as if the Chapmans repeatedly choose not to make a political
point with their art. They have said that they are against the war
on Iraq, but that Disasters of War is not a statement about that.
Equally,
although several of the new pieces appear to be commenting on consumer
culture and its cult-like mechanisms, the brothers have stated that
they are not.
They
have said that the reason they use McDonald’s in their art is not
because they hate what it stands for, but rather because it is the
trans-national corporation that most people dislike.
The
point for the Chapmans is not to make a statement but to press the
right buttons and wind people up.
Genius
or rubbish – you be the judge.
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