Lucas Odahara
Sleep and Death (Rasse und Schönheit), 2021
glazed ceramic tiles on wood structure, water
2 panels, 144 x 100 cm each
Installed in the water basins of the Bärenzwinger in Berlin, the two ceramic tile murals depart from a nude study by Adolf Brand, titled Race and Beauty, portraying a naked boy sitting, eyes closed, head down, arms folded across the chest. The image was published in 1926 in the magazine that Brand himself founded in 1896, called Der Eigene, the first German gay periodical. By seeking to draw a continuity between European homosexuality of the late 19th century with the homosexual culture of Ancient Greece, Der Eigene’s content often intersected with racist tendencies of its time.
In this work, Odahara engages with this image by evoking another Greek myth, that of he God of Sleep (Hypnos) and the god of death (Thanatos), two twin brothers who live next to each other in the Underworld, at the margins of the River of Forgetfulness. Odahara creates a mirror double of the drawing by Adolf Brand, and placing each half on opposite sides of the space, offering the possibility of separating and decoupling “race and beauty” referenced in Brand’s title.
Installation views at Bärenzwinger, Berlin, 2021. Photos: Juan Saez and die Möglichkeit einer Insel (Berlin Art Prize), 2022. Photos: Mizuki Kin