Droit Au But by Dutch artist Erik van Lieshout (b. 1968, NL), generously donated and adapted specially for Manifesta Foundation, is a part of the mixed media installation titled The Basement, 2014, which was commissioned for Manifesta 10 St. Petersburg and was shown in a constructed wooden tunnel in the General Staff Building at the Palace Square.
In his statement Erik van Lieshout wrote:
With the current host city of Manifesta 13 Marseille in mind and my work for Manifesta 10 St. Petersburg in Russia, I took the slogan of Olympique Marseille football club Droit Au But (straight to the point) as the starting point for this edition. President Putin walks through massive golden gates of the Kremlin, surrounded by the word ASYLUM. By adding the text Droit Au But with a marker and placing stickers of a football next to Putin's left foot, the most powerful man in Russia is presented as the striker who will take a penalty kick. Football, one of the world’s most popular sports, is thus united with cold-blooded autocracy. Droit Au But also stands for the overt political brutality that some world leaders seem to have been getting away with for quite some time now. On some copies of this edition, Putin makes a header or he handles the ball deliberately.
Erik van Lieshout (1968, Deurne, NL) is a Dutch artist whose projects are multi media installations encompassing video presented in specially built video rooms/installations, often encircled by collages of drawings and paintings.
In his work, van Lieshout addresses a multitude of contemporary socio-political issues such as multiculturalism, right-wingers, the position of minorities and outsiders as well as the modern consumer society. Van Lieshout looks at these issues from a radically personal point of view, putting himself into the actual environment at hand. By typically not adapting to the general behaviour of his surrounding, he becomes an active player in the action which causes many humoristic situations but can also provokes strong reactions.
Technical specification:
Photocopy of the original artwork, 42.0 x 29.7 cm printed on 120g xerox colour paper, each copy is unique and adapted by the artist. The edition is signed and numbered in an edition of 200 (incl. 20 APs), unframed.
In collaboration with Annet Gelink Gallery