Christian Jankowski
Congratulations, 2000

Artist
Christian Jankowski

Title
Congratulations

Year of creation
2000

Technology and duration
Four video installations with congratulatory speeches, each on DVD, 10-12 minutes each

Year of acquisition
2002

For his contribution to participation in the competition for the National Gallery for Young Art Prize, which was first awarded in 2000, Christian Jankowski, who lives in Berlin, had four fictitious prize speeches written. Actors recorded these for him and they are recorded on video.

The work “Congratulations” traces the art world and its rituals with a light-hearted but at the same time profound humor. The profound change that took place in the art boom of the 1980s means that artists today have to position themselves differently in order to be able to play in the art world.

Christian Jankowski belongs to the generation of artists who experienced how art was used primarily for cultural-political prestige. More and more commercial companies have discovered art as an important instrument for promoting their own image, and so the “event” of the vernissage is increasingly being used by public and private companies for public relations work.

At the same time, the culture of opening speeches has increased dramatically; nothing works anymore without a nice speech. The social event, the reception, needs a certain framework. The work shows, with a wink, how within the "art operating system" the work of art and the artist are absent (because they are interchangeable) in their presence. Jankowski shows himself to be a close observer of language, gestures and behavior and is a reflection of the self-sufficient art world. Fortunately, this all happens with a pleasant lightness that makes the viewer smile and think.