Moorhead, U.S.A. — Rourke Art Museum will display a significant, wide-ranging exhibit by German Pop artist Moritz Goetze. The centerpiece of the 60 works is Goetze’s re-imagining of the iconic American painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Although his works are humorously ironic, he avoids sanctimonious finger-pointing, keeping audiences engaged through multiple viewings.

The exhibit title Deutsche Kunst (German Art) has double meaning. Goetze is German, of course, but he also draws inspiration from German art of the late 1800s, one of his many artistic reference points.

That inspiration resulted in Goetze’s re-contextualizing in enamel Washington Crossing the Delaware, by German artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. The large-scale enamel is true to its inspiration and to the artist’s recurring commentary on technology’s place in the world.  (Viewers will note the young man in the foreground holding a laptop – perhaps using Googlemaps.)

“At first glance, his work seems to fall definitively in the Pop art tradition, with its bright, cheerful colors. Delving deeper, one finds an intriguing array of artistic, historical and social commentary, from current politics to Prussian history to Manet’s Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe,” enthused Tania Blanich, Executive Director of the Rourke.

“We’re thrilled to showcase Moritz’s work in his first American museum exhibition,” Blanich continued. “It’s particularly exciting to juxtapose his work with that of the Pop artists in our collection, including Lichtenstein, Rosenquist and Warhol – all artists that Moritz cites as great influences.”

Goetze’s work has been shown widely in museums and galleries throughout his native Germany and inEurope. The exhibit features paintings, prints and the artist’s signature enamels.

The exhibit runs October 20 through January 20, 2013. Goetze and Dr. Jork Rothamel, curator and art historian, will give a gallery talk on Sunday, October 21 at 2 pm. Throughout the exhibition, the Rourke will host informal lectures and special tours by art historians and historians.

For more information, please visit the Rourke Art Gallery website.

Image Courtesy of  GalerieRothamel

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