펠릭스 파츠와 호르헤 존탈, 그리고 에이에이 브론슨이 1969년 토론토에서 설립한 캐나다의 컬렉티브 제너럴 아이디어의 다채로운 실천 가운데, 비교적 덜 알려진 특정 단면에 주목하며 이들의 드로잉 작업을 조망하는 책 『Ecce Homo』는 컬렉티브가 뉴욕에서 활동하던 시기인 1985년부터 1993년 사이에 제작된 125점의 드로잉을 엄선해 수록하고 있으며, 드로잉과 예술을 대하는 이들만의 독창적이고 다채로운 접근을 폭넓게 살핍니다. 책의 디자인은 바이마르 공화국 시기 독일 사회의 부패와 위선, 타락을 비판한 게오르크 그로스의 화집 『Ecce Homo』에서 착안한 것으로, 게오르크 그로스의 서사에 나타난 반유대주의와 제너럴 아이디어가 마주했던 동성애 혐오의 현실을 비판적으로 겹쳐놓습니다.

2022년부터 2023년까지 제네바 근현대미술관과 뉴욕 드로잉 센터에서 열린 동명 전시를 바탕으로 기획되었으며, 공동 큐레이터 리오넬 보비에와 클레어 길먼의 서문, 에이에이 브론슨과의 대담, 그리고 수록작 전체의 색인을 함께 담고 있습니다.

Focusing on one specific and lesser-known aspect of the manifold practice of General Idea, the Canadian collective founded in Toronto in 1969 by Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal—both deceased in 1994—and AA Bronson, this volume highlights their drawing practice. It offers a generous insight into 125 carefully selected drawings realized between 1985 and 1993—the period the collective spent in New York—spanning the diversity and innovation of their singular approach to drawing and art. The publication’s design is inspired by George Grosz’s legendary Ecce Homo album (1922–1923) because, according to AA Bronson, “the Anti-Semitism in Grosz’s narrative is mirrored by the homophobia in ours.”

Investigating motifs in the group’s multimedia works such as poodles, stiletto heels, masks, heraldry, and metamorphosed genitalia, these drawings were primarily produced by Jorge Zontal during group meetings. However, given General Idea’s mandate for co-authorship, as well as the circumstances under which they were executed, the drawings are considered to be collaborative. Although they are done entirely by hand, the repetition of specific motifs follows a viral logic that is akin to General Idea’s own penchant for mass reproduction. Seen together, these drawings are a fascinating window into General Idea’s distinct artistic vision as well as their unique notions of collaboration and co-authorship. As Claire Gilman states in her introduction: “The drawings are on the one hand dizzyingly full—this is particularly true of the later drawings where cockroaches spawn and multiply amid dots and splatters of color—and, on the other, hauntingly vacant consisting of mere stains or barely-there outlines, even within a single series. Lest we get too caught up in any one particular rendition, another follows, giving the lie to its predecessor. In their mutability and insistent flow, they are an intimate manifestation of the theatrical nature of existence, exposing representation’s inadequacy while acknowledging its urgency.”

200 pages, 26.7 × 34.9 cm, Softcover, English, ISBN 9783037645949