Götterdämmerung

On the occasion of the new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen
Dana Schutz
January 27, 2012 – May 12, 2012

The final exhibition of Ring-themed artwork for Gallery Met was Dana Schutz’s Götterdämmerung, tied to the premiere of the last opera in the cycle. The exhibition featured black-and-white ink drawings and six large-scale colorful monotypes. One, entitled Brünnhilde, depicts the iconic heroine of the Ring cycle in her heroic (and suicidal) leap into a funeral pyre in the opera’s concluding moments. “Brünnhilde is a fascinating character, very powerful but conflicted. She takes the whole world down, as well as herself,” Schutz says of Götterdämmerung’s heroine, adding that Wagner’s cycle of operas has no shortage of appealing artistic subjects. “There’s so much in the Ring: Rhinemaidens, a dragon, incest—even the world in flames!”

Drowning, 2011
watercolor monotype with colored pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
60 x 46 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY
Published by Two Palms, NY

Fire Girl, 2011
watercolor monotype with colored pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
60 x 46 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY
Published by Two Palms, NY

Brünnhilde, 2011
watercolor monotype with colored pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
60 x 46 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY
Published by Two Palms, NY

Young Brünnhilde, 2011
watercolor monotype with colored pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
60 x 46 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY
Published by Two Palms, NY

Rhinemaidens, 2011
ink on paper
96 x 72 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Licking a Brick, 2011
watercolor monotype with colored pencil, crayon and pastel on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
46 x 60 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY
Published by Two Palms, NY

Down, 2011
ink of paper
72 x 96 inches
Courtesy the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Rhinemaiden, 2011
ink on paper
30 x 22.5 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Siegfried, 2011
ink and conte on paper
22.25 x 30 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Brünnhilde and Stone, 2011
ink on paper
30 x 22.5 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Drowning, 2011
ink on paper
30 x 22.25 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Brünnhilde and Siegfried, 2011
ink on paper
30 x 22.25 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, NY

Installation view of Dana Schutz’s Götterdämmerung.

Installation view of Dana Schutz’s Götterdämmerung.

Installation view of works from Dana Schutz’s Götterdämmerung on the Grand Tier.