The Final Mess (Headlines/Transition Paintings)

by Stefan Brüggemann

This series of 8 paintings was carried out in the final days of the American transition of power. Each painting bears the headline of that day. This series redeploys the language of established media outlets within the aesthetic of street protest. On Capitol Hill, the former president himself harnessed a street movement to destabilize American democracy. In the immediacy and chaos of such a moment, this work embraces the tension between text and abstraction. Today’s cacophonous discourse degrades our capacity to recognize truth. So much so that it becomes indiscernible from falsehood. Brüggemann leans into this absence of the signified, layering words over and again in a form of gestural obliteration. Set against a canvas of gold, this unintelligible riot of red, white and blue is a crucible for a uniquely American carnage.
13/JAN/2021 Vote of Conscience
13/JAN/2021 Vote of Conscience
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
14/JAN/2021 Incitement of Insurrection
14/JAN/2021 Incitement of Insurrection
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
15/JAN/2021 Washington D.C. on alert
15/JAN/2021 Washington D.C. on alert
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
16/JAN/2021 Ban from social media
16/JAN/2021 Ban from social media
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
17/JAN/2021 White Riot
17/JAN/2021 White Riot
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
18/JAN/2021 Domestic Terror
18/JAN/2021 Domestic Terror
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
19/JAN/2021 American Carnage
19/JAN/2021 American Carnage
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021
20/JAN/2021 Woman. God Bless American and Protect our Troops
20/JAN/2021 Woman. God Bless American and Protect our Troops
175 x 135cms
Spray Painting and Gold Leaf on canvas
2021