Jonas Burgert. Lotsucht

Jonas Burgert’s first solo show in Italy, Lotsucht Scandagliodipendenza (curated by Laura Carlini Fanfogna), opens at MAMbo filling the vast space of the Sala delle Ciminiere with 38 mostly large-format paintings created by the German artist over the last decade. Burgert creates carefully constructed scenes filled with complexity, his works depict his vision of the theatre that is human existence, examining the instinctive need for humans to give sense, direction and purpose to their lives. This exploration encompasses realms of reason, imagination and desire, generating monumental landscapes crowded with fantastic figures of different proportions: monkeys and zebras, skeletons and harlequins, Amazons and children. Referenced in the exhibition’s title, the plumb line is a symbol of inner balance and a motif that appears frequently in Burgert’s paintings. Compulsively plumbing our reality is something of an obsession for the artist. He chooses to examine existential questions with his paintings and does not shy from venturing into dark corners to explore our emotions, obsessions and demons. The exhibition catalogue published by MAMbo features critical texts by David Anfam and Laura Carlini Fanfogna and images of all the works in the exhibition, as well as a selection of other works by the artist.