TRANSFORMER
curated by Giulia Casalini
Richard Saltoun
111 Great Titchfield Street - London
12/12/2013 - 28/2/2014
On the 40th anniversary of 'Transformer: Aspects of Travesty' - a
groundbreaking show curated by Jean-Christophe Ammann in 1974 - Richard Saltoun
Gallery announces a re-proposition of the original exhibition, that will reunite
all the artists, in London. This is the first such reunion to commemorate the
exhibition which deals with the aesthetics of desire and sexuality through
travesty and drag performance.
Transformer will include works from all the
artists featured in the original exhibition: Luciano CASTELLI, Jürgen KLAUKE,
Urs LÜTHI, Pierre MOLINIER, Tony MORGAN, Luigi ONTANI, Walter PFEIFFER, Andrew
SHERWOOD, Katharina SIEVERDING, Werner Alex Meyer (alias Alex SILBER), THE
COCKETTES and Andy WARHOL.
Transformer looks back at the '70s contemporary
society and art practice, considering the aspects of transvestism and sexual
self-reflection in art. The exhibition takes its title from the seminal 1972
album by recently deceased Lou Reed, finding its parallel in the worlds of
fashion and glam-rock. Transformer examines the politics and aesthetics of
transgressing identity and at the disruptive sexualisation of masculinity by
incorporating characters usually labelled as 'feminine', as Brian Eno reflected
with a text written for the original catalogue. The exhibitionopened at the
Kunstmuseum Lucerne, Switzerland and was an extraordinary cultural event: the
opening was recorded by Swiss TV and it toured later to Germany and Austria.
Whilst the exhibition received no publicity in the UK, it has been influential
for art theory and history, since it was the first occasion that sought to
theorise transvestism and which explored non-normative sexualities and the
production of identity.
References to Transformer have recently appeared in
Glam! The Performance of Style, Tate Liverpool, Kunsthalle Frankfurt and
Kunstmuseum Linz (2013) and in A Bigger Splash: Painting After Performance, Tate
Modern (2013). The exhibition at Richard Saltoun Gallery will contain the
sexually explicit content of the exhibition and show the lesser-known artists
originally included. A series of events curated by Giulia Casalini - to include
screenings, talks and performances - will be announced nearer the time.
Luciano Castelli (b. 1951, Lucerne, Switzerland) rose to fame in the
early '70s when he debuted in Documenta 5 (1972), for which he made a series of
terracotta sculptures representing women's knickers. Later series include large
photographic self-portraits in cross-dressing. A retrospective of Castelli will
be held at Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, in 2014.
Jürgen
Klauke (b. 1943, Koln, Germany) explores the body in relation to the self and to
the other in his Transformer series (1970-75), in which he appears dressed in
red leather and uses prosthesis and phallic surrogates as part of his body.
Recent solo shows at Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2011) and Kunst Und
Kulturzentrum, Aachen (2012).
Urs Lüthi (b. 1947, Lucerne, Switzerland).
In the '70s, he explored the 'self' through a series of photographs that aimed
to create a dialogue between the artist and his feminine 'other', and by
exploring notions of failure contingent to the self-portrait genre. Recent solo
shows include MACRO, Rome (2010) and Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris(2011).
Pierre Molinier (b. 1900, Agen, France - 1976, Bordeaux, France) was a
surrealist painter, photographer and 'object maker'. Embodying an androgynous
identity (cross-dressing in his wife's lingerie) and through his fetishistic
erotic portraiture, he challenged norms of morality and decency, as in the
self-portrait series Mon cul. Before committing suicide, he declared his death
and raised his tomb against the social conventions of morality, glory and
honour.
Tony Morgan (b. 1938, Leicestershire, UK - 2004, Geneva,
Switzerland). Inspired by Fluxus, using the mediums of video and performance, he
turned to themes of gender identity in the early '70s, establishing Herman, his
part-woman alter ego. Recent exhibitions include Tony Morgan, The Birth of
Herman, Mamco, Geneva (2002) and Tony Morgan: Some Films, Thomas Dane Gallery,
London (2011).
Luigi Ontani (b. 1943, Vergato, Italy). His famous series
of hand-coloured photographic tableaux vivants from the '70s (inspired by a trip
to India) represent the artist and other young men, alluding to the creation of
a personal, sensual and self-reflective mythology. Recent solo exhibitions
include Museo di Capodimonte, Naples (2009) & MoMA PS1, New York (2011).
Walter Pfeiffer (b. 1946, Zurich, Switzerland) is a photographer whose
subjects have included the non-conventional representation of the male body and
of his sexuality, with a focus on homosexual desire and imagery. He has
collaborated with magazines Butt, i-D, VICE and Vogue. The retrospective Walter
Pfeiffer: In love with beauty was held at Fotomuseum, Winterthur(2008).
Andrew Sherwood (b. 1935, Wilmington, Delaware, USA) is a photographer
famous for his intimate portraits of Warhol Superstar Jackie Curtis and of
George Harris (aka Hibiscus) who was part of the San Francisco-based queer
performance group The Cockettes. A solo show was held at Centre Pompidou, Paris
(1978).
Katharina Sieverding (b. 1944, Prague) adopted installation and
photography to explore her own image and her shifting female identity in the
'70s. The only woman in the original Transformer exhibition, she represents her
image as if in drag by also including the masculine features. Solo exhibitions
include the German Pavilion at the 1997 Biennale, Venice, and a retrospective at
PS1/MoMA, New York (2004).
Werner Alex Meyer alias Alex Silber (b. 1950,
Basel, Switzerland) adopted his pseudonym to embody an alter-ego that through
drawing, text, photography and performance sensually and narcissistically
reflected on his dual image and identity. Silber stages and produces a
contemporary dandy whose image is close to the glam-rock music stars of that
time.
The Cockettes (1969 - ). A psychedelic drag commune, founded in
San Francisco in 1969 by George Harris, aka Hibiscus. The collective of
performers (45 men, 3 women and 2 babies), expressed the ideals of freedom from
societal constraints through their hippie consciousness, use of drag performance
and regular consumption of drugs on stage.
Andy Warhol (b. 1928,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA-1987, New York). The artist surrounded himself
with glamorous personalities (many of those transvestites), which he promoted as
'Superstars'. His films and work out of the Factory NYC were influential on the
1970s artistic scene for re-appropriating the aesthetics and values of pop
culture, mainly reflected by Hollywood stardom.
Giulia Casalini (b,
1988, Modena, Italy) is a curator based in London. She works at Richard Saltoun
Gallery and co-directs CUNTemporary (established 2012), a non-profit
organisation dedicated to feminist and queer art practices and theories, which
organises events and curates exhibitions
