Jonathan Monk "Tisch Table Table"

Published Automn 2008

Edition of 6 copies plus four artist’s proofs.
Each copy is accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist.
Dimensions: 31 x 79.5 x 61 cm.
Wood, steel, glass, offset printing on paper

TISCH TABLE TABLE, 2008, by Jonathan Monk, is a work that looks like a table for reading or leaving books. It is an adaptation and, in a certain sense, copy, of a table-shaped sculpture by Martin Kippenberger called Modell Interconti, 1987. Kippenberger’s piece included a 1972 painting by Gerhard Richter as the so-called table-top. The original work was executed in oil on canvas, with metal, and wood, and its dimensions are repeated identically in the version by Monk. Kippenberger’s table sounds like it’s named after a chain of hotels. Monk’s table, in English, German and French, is named after the game of pingpong.
Both titles are keys to the work of each artist. Kippenberger made much art in the neutral interiors of hotel rooms. Monk plays a fast game of table tennis with the work of other artists. The Richter painting in Monk’s table is replaced with an original artwork (a poster) by Kippenberger as the table-top. The poster is from an exhibition in Germany, in which Kippenberger had himself photographed standing like Joseph Beuys. He happens to be to the right of some modernist furniture. Monk refers to the German artist and his irreverent gestures with a great deal of respect, and slightly tongue-in-cheek. An original (painting) is substituted by a multiple (poster), and becomes a multiple, by Monk, and Three Star Books.

Download the complete description PDF here.

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