KIENHOLZ: Five Car Stud
Exhibition, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy.
Five Car Stud, created by Edward Kienholz, was first exhibited at Documenta 5 in Kassel. A life-size reproduction of a scene of racial violence, it is considered one of the American artist's most significant works. Despite the controversy and attention the piece earned from critics it remained hidden from view, stored by a Japanese collector for almost 40 years. The artwork catapults the viewer into a nightmarish situation, immersing her/him in a dimension – either removed or forgotten – of extreme violence.
The expressive force of the piece, its powerful symbolic charge, and the lucidity of the accusation against racial persecution retain their original strength. Among the other tableaux on show are assemblages and drawings by Ed and Nancy Kienholz.