Kai Althoff (German, born 1966). *Untitled (for Lionel Maunz)*, 2008. Pigmented resin, wool, enamel paint, and iron; 113 x 61 3/4 inches (287 x 156.8 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Bequest of Arthur B. Michael, by exchange and Albert H. Tracy Fund, by exchange, 2011 (2011:1a-c). © 2008 Kai Althoff.

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Kai Althoff

German, born 1966

Untitled (for Lionel Maunz), 2008

pigmented resin, wool, enamel paint, and iron

overall: 113 x 61 3/4 inches (287.02 x 156.845 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Bequest of Arthur B. Michael, by exchange and Albert H. Tracy Fund, by exchange, 2011

2011:1a-c

More Details

Inscriptions

no inscriptions

Provenance

the artist;
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York;
January 25, 2011, purchased by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo

Class

Sculpture

Work Type

Construction (sculpture)

Information may change due to ongoing research.Glossary of Terms

Kai Althoff combines traditional artmaking materials with crafted objects and found elements to create playfully dark works of art that explore some of the most profound aspects of human existence. He is particularly interested in what he has identified as parallels between German history and the psychology of male identity. Violence, sexuality, and complacency are staged against a backdrop of conflict. Untitled (for Lionel Maunz), created in honor of Althoff’s close artist friend, hails from a series of sculptural works conceived as a theoretical circus. It depicts a wide-eyed, downhearted green lion that stares out at us from behind a cage. His orange prison features the outline of a zookeeper who swings the cell key around his finger—a taunting gesture that, for the King of the Jungle, reinforces the absence of any means of escape.

Label from Menagerie: Animals on View, March 11–June 4, 2017