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silk screen print on aluminum, 41 x 58 cm, edition of 50
Don Ritter, 2015
A couple with raised arms in front of four paintings, which in turn represent a couple. Are these self-portraits? Do they worship themselves? Or do they pay homage to art? Next to it another man who is vomiting. Is he doing this because of the behavior of the two gallery visitors or because the exhibited art is so incredibly bad or because the artist has prostituted himself for the market by producing such compliant works? To like art means to have good manners. It is easier to pretend to like art than to say that you do not like it.
The statement of Don Ritter's work is contradictory at first sight. He calls to stand to what one likes or not. This call to criticism requires courage and backbone. If someone doubts the quality of a work, or doubts the seriousness of an 'art-maker', and expresses it loudly, this subject is quickly excluded from the honorable fellowship of art-lovers. The much-discussed discourse is often an illusion. Somehow Don Ritter's reminds the fairy tale of the 'Emperor's new clothes', only that the person who expresses the unwelcome truth as a doubter will never get access to the world of art.
Harald Kraemer, 2017
University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria, 2016
Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, Hong Kong, 2015