Eishockey

Peter Friedl

Eishockey, 2000

Artwork text

Friedl sometimes exhibited his own childhood drawings alongside drawings made as an adult, thus confronting his child’s view with that of the adult artist. This is not a glorification of the “child’s view” as a source of impartial, valuable creativity inaccessible to adults; rather, Friedl puts into perspective the criteria used for the assessment of art. The drawing Eishockey (Ice Hockey) is not his original childhood drawing. As the artist comments: “They’re so valuable, they’re not for sale.”1 The drawing is a copy laminated directly onto the wall as an oversized poster. It shows ice hockey players drawn in white pencil on a green background. The hockey rink boards are covered with the advertising slogans of well-known brands. Players from the former Soviet Union are playing against a team from Sweden, drawing our attention to the tension between popular sports, politics, and aesthetic storytelling. (Doris Leutgeb) 1 Quoted in Raimar Stange, “Qualitäts-Sprünge: Interviews,” in Kunstforum International: Kunsturteil, vol. 235 (August—September 2015): 162.