Jean-Christophe Ammann

Essays in English by Jean-Christophe Amman (The life and Work of Miss General Idea), Tim Guest (From Ziggurats to Curlicues: A Few Principle Features on the Art of General Idea) and General Idea ("How our mascots love to humiliate us..." Revelations from the doghouse). Published on the occasion of the itinerant exhibition (Basel, Kunsthalle, September 30 - November 4, 1984; Eindhoven, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, January 12 - February 17, 1985; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, April 26 - June 23, 1985; Montreal, Musee d'Art Contemporain, September 19 - November 3, 1985).… (altro)

Catalogue of the iconic exhibition Transformer: Aspekte der Travestie, organised in 1974 by Swiss curator Jean-Christophe Ammann; the exhibition looked into the connection between cross-dressing in popular music and Contemporary Art, approaching the phenomenon as at once creative, and critical of reductive bourgeois visions of masculinity. The outraging of traditional masculinity by Little Richard and the stars of Glam Rock and punk was presented in parallel with the work of artists like Jürgen Klauke, Urs Lüthi and Sieverding. Borrowed from the famous Lou Reed album, the English word transformer came to be used by these young Swiss and German artists to describe the transcending of binary gender definitions; and more than ever before photography became a mirror enabling play with duality and otherness. Fantastic photo illustrations throughout. Text is in German although essays on the New York Dolls and David Bowie are included in English.… (altro)