Private Means

is a term describing income from any source except earned income or state benefits. In German an individual living of private means is termed a “Privatier”, a word that pretends to be French, whereas in French itself it doesn’t exist, and thus seems coined by a premeditated sophistication of the german-bourgeois milieu. This circumstance, or better this comfort, is of interest, as the impact of an artist’s social background or class affiliation on the OEuvre is often hard to decipher and can typically only be reconstructed from biographical data. Yet a second informed gaze frequently allows certain nuances to be detected.Contemporary nuances:

Group A: Post Upper-Class “Punk”
Traces of physical / creative labour, such as dirt, splattered paint, etc..
Group B: Post Working-Class Snob
Nice / expensive things treasured with delicate respect.

Many times when entering an institution like a bank, boutique or club the second scrutinizing look is directed

towards the shoes. Many of my upper-class friends wear the most ordinary shoes.
The paths of Group A and B intersect.

Two products from the same manufacturer for differing target group.

http://www.ysl.com/us/shop-product/men/shoes-boots-classic-hedi-30-chelsea-boot-in-black-leather_cod44842999ah.html#section=men_permanent
http://www.amazon.com/Yves-Saint-Laurent-Opium-Toilette/dp/B000E7YKI2

“The hypothesis is: One shall not even open a crack of the door to cynicism, otherwise blunt grossness will inexorably, unpredictably expand the opening and mass-invade. Antithesis: Is the door impenetrably shut, the room will turn so utterly boring, yes, will acquire such a moralistic stale-air, that it becomes unbearable.”

– Fashion and Cynisism, 1879, Friedrich Theodor Vischer

Opening: Friday, January 29, 2016, 7pm

Welcome speech: Johan Holten, Director of the Staatlichen Kunsthalle Baden-Baden

Introduction: Hendrik Bündge, Curator of the Staatlichen Kunsthalle Baden-Baden