Analog: 30th Anniversary Exhibition

Press Release by Tom Eccles

The last line of the first press release issued for the first exhibition of Anton Kern Gallery reads “The work is a proposition” [Lothar Hempel]. It was September 1996. Fox News was launched by Rupert Murdoch one month later. Bill Clinton would be re-elected shortly afterwards. Shaquille O’Neal made his debut for the LA Lakers against the Phoenix Suns. The Spice Girls released their debut album, Spice. It went on to sell over 23 million copies. It was a different time. It was analog. Every exhibition felt like a proposition.

Anton Kern is German and the son of a painter. When he speaks of an artwork, he always starts with the artist. As he describes the work, you can almost feel the work being made. Every description is followed by brief laughter. Anton likes paint, color, squiggles, humor, humanity.

IF I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING, I WOULD HAVE STOPPED A LONG TIME AGO [Maurizio Cattelan]

Anton Kern isn’t pushy.  But he likes to talk about art.  He wants you to share in his fascination and love for what is on his walls.  It appears that for him, every artwork is a discovery, something new, something that tells you something you didn’t know or expect.  

THE BEST ARTWORKS ARE MISTAKES NO ONE DARED TO FIX [Maurizio Cattelan]

Anton likes his art messy.  Surfaces are raw, colors bright as though the studio has entered the gallery and the work in progress, quizzically paused and considered complete.

CONCEPTUAL ART? ALL ART IS CONCEPTUAL IF YOU THINK LONG ENOUGH [Maurizio Cattelan]

For Anton, there is always an idea within the work and an idea of how to render an idea that is itself an idea.  Having explained this to you, he often says “remarkable!”  

Analog is an exhibition of long-held friendships. Artists include: Peter Acheson, Pawel Althamer, Nobuyoshi Araki, 

Kamrooz Aram, Alvaro Barrington, Georg Baselitz, Margot Bergman, Ellen Berkenblit, Keith Boadwee, John Bock, 

Katherine Bradford, Joe Bradley, David Byrd, Brian Calvin, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Elene Chantladze, Anne Collier, William Copley, Ann Craven, Julie Curtiss, Carroll Dunham, Nicole Eisenman, Frank Diaz Escalet, Roe Ethridge, Angus Fairhurst, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Lloyd Foster, Llyn Foulkes, Aaron Fowler, Martino Gamper, Isa Genzken, Giorgio Griffa, Ellen Gronemeyer, Mark Grotjahn, Anthea Hamilton, Rachel Harrison, Eberhard Havekost, Richard Hawkins, Mary Heilmann, Lothar Hempel, Loie Hollowell, Richard Hughes, Roxanne Jackson, Marcus Jahmal, Merlin James, Sarah Jones, Michael Joo, Hein Koh, Edward Krasiński, Mike Kuchar, Shio Kusaka, Jim Lambie, Sean Landers, Liz Larner, Jochen  Lempert, Erik van Lieshout, Marepe, Chris Martin, Adam McEwen, Florian Meisenberg, Enrique Metinides, Leo Mock, Matthew Monahan, Matt Mullican, Jeanette Mundt, Aliza Nisenbaum, Marcel Odenbach, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Manfred Pernice,  Alessandro Pessoli, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince, Tal R, Wilhelm Sasnal, Raymond Saunders, Lara Schnitger, David Shrigley, Mike Silva, Andrew Sim, Sérgio Sister, Emily Sundblad, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Rosemarie Trockel, Francis Upritchard, Andy Warhol, Jonas Wood, and Yuli Yamagata.

With quotes provided by Marco Brambilla, Maurizio Cattelan, Christoph Gerozissis, Matthew Higgs, Jim Lambie, and David 

Shrigley.

For the exhibition, a special free sticker “Be Kind Rewind” will be distributed along with Anton’s personal VHS collection of more than 200 videos to be given away free of charge. The artworks are for sale. Feel free to browse. Anton Kern always wears a colored jacket.

— Tom Eccles, Executive Director, Center for Curatorial Studies, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, February 2026