Jonathan
Meese’s work exploits cultural taboo. Appropriating
historical and media references. Meese parodies his own symbolism.
His paintings reduce the perception evil to the level of operatic
theatre: simulated horror plays out in clichéd formulas,
resounding in contemporary consciousness as benign fable and
gripping spectacle. In Dr. Phantomeese…, Meese
paints himself as a barbaric warlord, set against a blood
red ground emblazoned with iron crosses. Here, propaganda
associations are depleted to decorative motif; his character
is that of a villain in a fairytale, a slightly un-PC nemesis
of boys’ adventure.