Remastered: The Art of Appropriation is a major group exhibition featuring over 50 international artists including, John Baldessari, Louise Lawler, Marcel Duchamp, Rosemarie Trockel, and Thomas Ruff, among many others.

Without the art of others, an art of one’s own is unthinkable because art always develops in reference, conscious or unconscious, to works that already exist. But what if reference becomes appropriation?

What if artists make works wholly their own by over-painting or obliteration, or put their hand to works of others on a symbolic level by re-enactment, extrapolation, or translation to other media?

In a juxtaposition of historic works of Appropriation Art, current positions, and works that have, in part, previously not been viewed from this angle, the art of appropriation is analyzed in its unique complexity.

Featuring many classic examples of ‘appropriation’ such as: Jake and Dinos Chapman‘s series, Like a dog returns to its vomit which is hijacked from Francisco de Goya‘s iconic print series, Los Caprichos (1793-99); and Man Ray‘s ‘cigar adorned’ printed copy of Leonardo da Vinci‘s famous presumed self-portrait as an old man (1512).

Published on the occasion of the exhibition, Remastered: The Art of Appropriation at Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (26 November 2017 – 18 February 2018).

English and German text.