«Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango
Group Show, June 11 until August 14, 2021
Artists
Alfredo Aceto, Andreas Waldmeier, Camillo Paravicini, Chris Kraus, Cindy Sherman, Doug Johns, Ed Ruscha, Fabio Luks, Genesis P-Orridge, Germann & Lorenzi, Gil Pellaton, Gregory Hari, Joe Brainard, Keren Cytter, Latefa Wiersch, Mickry3, Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe
Institution
Location
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Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Alfredo Aceto, Bocca con Matita, 2021, cast bronze, oil paint, 5 x 15 x 3.5 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Cindy Sherman, Oops, 2017, PVC, 168 x 89 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
"Cockroach or Queen?" at Last Tango is a group show featuring artists such as Alfredo Aceto, Joe Brainard, Keren Cytter, Germann & Lorenzi, Doug Johns, Gregory Hari, Peter Hujar, Chris Kraus, Fabio Luks, and more. The exhibition explores ideas about mythmaking, portraiture, self-esteem, authorship, the artist persona, and the act of paying homage. Some works are autobiographical, prompting reflections on publicness, intimacy, and privacy, while others directly respond to the art world, hierarchies, status anxiety, and celebrity culture.
The title of the exhibition, "Cockroach or Queen?", is inspired by an article in Newsweek from 1973 about Eva Hesse, conveying her sense of feeling both inferior and superior. The show delves into the slippery spectrum between these feelings for artists. In today's attention economy, the creation of persona is prevalent, with claims that society has become more narcissistic due to pop culture. The exhibition questions how aura and character are formed, whether self-infatuation can be a form of resistance, and if narcissism has become a cultural norm.
Special thanks are extended to Edition VFO, Dieter Hall, Enrico Praloran, Family Hari, Philip Neuberger, Tamara Giger, Virginia Marano, Sammlung Lucaya, Peter Hujar Archive, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, and all the participating artists.
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Latefa Wiersch, Exhibition, 2021, mixed media, ca. 58 x 55 x 40 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Latefa Wiersch, Exhibition (detail), 2021, mixed media, ca. 58 x 55 x 40 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Peter Hujar, Penny, 1981, vintage silver gelatine print, 37.5 × 37.5 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: Private collection
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Fabio Luks, Alphabet of the Zoo, 2020, oil and acrylic on canvas, 110 × 90 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Joe Brainard, Title unknown (Narcissist), 1965, collage, 35 x 28 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: Private collection
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Chris Kraus, Title unknown, 2019, screen-printed t-shirt, size M» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: Private collection
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Ed Ruscha, Ed Ruscha Says Goodbye to College Joys, Artforum Vol. 5, No. 5 (January 1967)» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: Private collection
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Gil Pellaton, How One by Hap they Humane Figure Lost, 2020, hand polished aluminium cast, dimensions variable» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Alfredo Aceto, Chlorocala, 2021, polystyrene, fiberglass, acrylic resin, paint, ca. 33 x 11 x 10 cm» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artists and Last Tango
Exhibition View Group Show «Cockroach or Queen?; view on Camillo Paravicini, Wisdom, 2010/2021, porcelain, burl wood plinth, 20 x 7 x 7 cm, 120 x 17 x 17 cm (plinth)» at Last Tango, Zurich, 2021 / Photo: Kilian Bannwart / Courtesy: the artist and Last Tango
