AA Bronson and General Idea exhibition at Esther Schipper, Berlin, explores collective legacy and solo evolution

An exhibition titled 'Catch me if you can! AA Bronson + General Idea, 1968–2018' opened at Esther Schipper in Berlin on 27 April 2018, presenting works by the collective General Idea and its surviving member AA Bronson. The show is arranged chronologically, tracing a continuum from the group's early pieces to Bronson's solo projects after the 1994 AIDS-related deaths of Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal. It includes photographs, prints, paintings, videos, assemblages, installations, and sculptures, with a recently rediscovered cache of images from the 1960s and 70s. Larger works occupy the central space of the gallery, while a related installation in the bookshop displays publications like FILE Magazine in chronological order. The culminating piece, 'Flasher' (2018), a lightbox-mounted transparency by Bronson in collaboration with Matthias Hermann, depicts the artist flashing his aging body in a wooded grove. ArtReview's attempt to post this image on Instagram was rejected due to its explicit content, echoing themes of appearance and disappearance in the exhibition. Concurrently, 'AA Bronson’s Garten der Lüste,' a hybrid installation with performances at KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin, runs through 29 April 2018. The Esther Schipper exhibition is on view until 26 May 2018, highlighting the uncoiling of sexuality and corporeal presence across the artists' careers.