Alfred Hofkunst : Garbage Bodies
K.Desbouis
Alfred Hofkunst, Santa Monica, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm. Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Big Boss, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm. Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Kerichtsack 1, 1988, printing on plastic 65 x 29 cm. Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Fressack, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm. Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Hortense, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm, Kerichtsack 2, 1988, printing on plastic 65 x 29 cm, Big Boss, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm (left to right). Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Ouvrier, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm. Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Kerichtsack 1, 1988, printing on plastic 65 x 29 cm, Playboy, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm (left to right). Photo Michael Quemener
Alfred Hofkunst, Hortense, 1988, printing on plastic 110 x 140 cm, Kerichtsack 2, 1988, printing on plastic 65 x 29 cm, (left to right). Photo Michael Quemener
The exhibition Garbage Bodies presents a collection of editions by artist Alfred Hofkunst (1942, Austria – 2004, Switzerland), purchased online from private individuals since early 2024. These editions belong to the Garbage Bodies series — screen prints of garments or uniforms on garbage bags produced in the late 80s between Switzerland and New York. Primarily circulating in private contexts, these works can be filled like actual trash bags, transforming into sculptures that represent various social archetypes (the playboy, the worker, the boss…) or characters imagined by Hofkunst.
K. Desbouis (b. 1993) is an artist, publisher, and filmmaker. Since 2020, he has been the publisher of the artist’s magazine and book Suckcess, which explores themes of social class, moral contradictions, identity fluidity, and parody of dominant representations. The project brings together close collaborators as well as artists, writers, and contributors who have never published before.
In 2023, K. Desbouis published in Suckcess 2 a selection of Garbage Bodies photographs dating from 1988. For the exhibition at Les Bains-Douches, he recontextualizes the bags in new social configurations, reproducing or updating the class dynamics and fantasies associated with Hofkunst’s original editions. Reflecting Garbage Bodies‘ transition from 2D to 3D, Desbouis transposes Suckcess‘ two-dimensional compositional work into the exhibition space, thus editorializing Hofkunst’s practice. The show will explore the connections betweenbody politics and body horror, as well as the comedic and cinematic dimensions of Garbage Bodies.