Erik van Lieshout “Beer”

Anton Kern Gallery

[Image: Erik van Lieshout "Untitled" (2018) collage, 11.97 x 8.66 in.]

This event has ended.

“Conflict is my talent.” -Erik Van Lieshout

For his second solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery, Erik Van Lieshout will debut his new film, Beer, which documents the inner controversies that surrounded his acceptance of the prestigious Heineken Prize in 2018. The footage shot over the course of the year chronicles the wildly unpredictable saga that unfolded. New drawings and collages, inspired by the events in the film, will also be on display, hung throughout a monumental Heineken-style box in the gallery’s first floor atrium, in which Beer will be shown.

The pivotal event of the film is when Van Lieshout, forgetting that everything is now online, makes offhand comments about a Heineken scandal in Africa to a reporter from a small regional newspaper, causing anger at corporate headquarters. Previously praised and awarded by the Prize jury for his radical, political work, he suddenly finds himself in a complicated web of apology, fear, crisis, and corporate identity after the impulsive conversation with a reporter, grappling with the consequences of working in a world where one can no longer be naïve. His attempts and wish to connect with people and do good seem to be unwittingly, and consistently, undermined by this talent for conflict. Van Lieshout wonders if he should even accept the prize; ultimately, he does—with a PR-induced hangover.