Joan Jonas

“My purpose is to bring the idea of storytelling and myth and poetry into the work and basing my structures on those things. You cannot make a work of art without structure. So you don't go for poetry to begin with. You don't go for magic.” Joan Jonas

Through her constant experimentation with performance, video, and installation, internationally renowned artist Joan Jonas (*1936, New York City, USA) has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of art and influenced numerous generations of artists, establishing enduring relationships of exchange. Haus der Kunst presents the most comprehensive solo exhibition in Germany to date, reflecting Jonas' collaborative transnational approach and tracing her dynamic practice of transformation between media and time along recurring themes in her work.

In this video, the artist herself as well as the curators Andrea Lissoni and Julienne Lorz talk about her work, the exhibition and underlying topics such as the importance of water for the ecosystem, recurring sculptural motifs or unexpected rituals.

Joan Jonas' advice to everyone experiencing her work for the first time is to “simply look and listen to the work and give it time and not to worry about making a logical interpretation. That would come, I suppose, later, but to begin with, to simply look and listen.”