Jutta Koether: Seasons and Sacraments - September 23rd, 2024

“Seasons and Sacraments” was published on the occasion of Jutta Koether’s significant solo exhibitions held at Dundee Contemporary Arts, February 9 - April 21, 2013 and at Arnolfini, Bristol, May 4 - July 7, 2013.

128 pages
8.82 x 9.21 in
Softcover, perfect bound
ISBN-10: ‎ 0955876982

Koether exhibited two large series of works responding directly to the French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665): a reinterpretation of his “The Seven Sacraments” reimagined as a series of installations and “Seasons” (2012), a response to Poussin’s “The Four Seasons.” 

Taken by a catalog of Poussin’s “Sacraments” in the National Gallery of Scotland, Koether’s version of The Seven Sacraments proposes seven approaches to contemporary painting: “Confirmation” presents everyday objects encased in clear liquid acrylic, attached to vast sheets of glass; “Penance” is symbolized by a contemporary Danish-designed perspex table that resembles Poussin’s depiction of drapery, while “Baptism” is represented by a painted canvas featuring a racing car driver. Koether’s response to Poussin’s “The Four Seasons” is presented on freestanding sheets of glass and was shown at the Whitney Biennial in 2012.

“Remembering, repeating and working within a tradition, but deviating and radicalizing this tradition dramatically, serves as a working model in Koether’s practice to investigate what it means to be a painter today.” (Arnolfini)

The publication features full color documentation of the two thematic series, marking the first time they have been shown together in exhibition. It features a foreword written by Clive Gillman & Tom Trevor and essays by Jay Sanders, Michael Sanchez & Jeff Nagy, Graham Domke and Axel Wieder.

Published by Dundee Contemporary Arts in 2014.