Jason Rhoades

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Despite his early death, Jason Rhoades (1965–2007) left a prolific body of sculptural work. Eva Meyer-Hermann provides a chronological exploration and interpretation of Rhoades’ installations, which often fill entire halls. The texts challenge historical codifications that the artist himself evaded through a deliberate "double" perspective on facts. Rhoades’ artistic journey began in the late 1980s and early 1990s at the University of California, Los Angeles, under mentors like Richard Jackson and Paul McCarthy, during a time when the Southern Californian performance scene was expanding into the New York and European art markets. He incorporated performative elements into his spatial installations, developing thematic cycles from them. His sculptural language draws from mass culture and evolves metaphors through significant physical excursions, symbolizing unfulfilled desires for spiritual insight. This work is presented in the first monograph of Rhoades’ oeuvre in both German and English, authored by a recognized authority on his art, making it an extraordinary collectible in the series of monographs. Rhoades was born in California and studied at several prestigious institutions, culminating in a guest professorship in Frankfurt. He passed away in 2007, leaving behind his wife, artist Rachel Khedoori, and their daughter. Rhoades remarked, “My work has always been concerned with juggling the impossible.”