We are all cannibals. The simplest way to identify with another is still to eat them – interview wit

This interview was conducted at the kitchen table of her cozy Parisian apartment on the Boulevard Saint German. With a doctoral degree in art history Jeanette Zwingenberger is an art critic, biographer, independent curator and IAAC member (International Association of Art Critics). A contributor to numerous publications, she is the author and editor of over a dozen books on the artists like Frida Kahlo and Egon Schiele. Born in Germany, currently lives and works in Paris.

What was your Ph.D. subject?

I submitted my thesis to The Faculty of Art History and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland: “Life as an anamorphosis, Hans Holbein the Younger”. I published it in 1999 under the title “Hans Holbein the Younger, The shadow of death,” Parkstone ed., London. I analysed the new phenomenon of double and changing images, pictures puzzles, which appeared in the 16th century at the period of iconoclasm in Northern Europe and questioned theirs multiple meanings, the ambiguity of images. I developed this topic in several exhibitions also on the level of contemporary art. In 2006-2007, I organised an exhibition entitled Human-Landscape. Artistic visions of anthropomorphic landscapes, Palais de Beaux-Arts, Lille, Berlin 2006-2007. Two questions were raised: Whether man always views the world as no more than a projection of himself or is he able to envision himself as just another element of the universe? In 2009, I organised an other exhibition An image can hide another: Arcimboldo, Dali, Raetz, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. Right now, I am working on a book about hidden images. To know how to read and decipher images become essential in our times of iconic turn, where everything seems to be visible.

Which schools do you prefer in old masters?

The dialogue between historical and contemporary artworks from late Renaissance to the present, - the anthropologists call it perspectivism - is important to me.

What led you to focus on the topic of Cannibalism in your exhibition “All Cannibals” at the maison rouge and at the me collectors room?

I dedicated the show to Claude Lévi-Strauss. He wrote in 1993 a visionary article in La Repubblica, “We are all cannibals. The simplest way to identify with others is still to eat them.” The concept for the exhibition emerged from the observation that the theme of consumable flesh seems to be gaining in significance within many current art works. Contemporary works demonstrate a tendency to represent the consumption in a more radical and direct—but also violent—manner than was the case in works of classic modernism, which often had a playful or ironic note. The exploration of cannibalism should always first start with us. The issues manifesting in the artistic representation of cannibalism reference basic problems relating to one’s self-perception, to associations with one’s own flesh, and also to dealings between people. Thus, the metaphorical consumption is able to encourage the fostering of solidarity with others and to expose victim-perpetrator associations. In art, this bipolarity is shown through the oscillation between desire and violence, eroticism and power.

How would you describe your job?

In 1990, I worked as a young assistant in the Louvre; it was an amazing period. Jacques Derrida was invited there. Later, I teached at the university. I work several years on different projects until I find the right place. Meanwhile I am writing books about contemporary artists, this common work and reflection are very creative moments. The dialogue with other disciplines, the crossing of knowledge and interdisciplinary is essential for me. An exhibition has to raise questions to the spectator.

Can you teach people how to see more sensitively?

This year I will give a seminar for artists about Art in Renaissance at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne 2016/2017.

What are your future projects now?

I invite you to “CURATED BY VIENNA - TOMORROW - TODAY”, the exhibition is entitled Condensed times and imploding worlds, Gallery Hilger 11.9. – 27.9 2015. What kind of society are we living in? The artists gathered in this exhibition under the common theme of capitalism have, with their strong self-irony, always touched the nerve of our society by purposefully toying with stereotypes and prejudices, while simultaneously questioning them and thus inspiring an exploration full of reflection.