CULVER CITY,
CA.-In 1994 German
artist Thomas Schutte produced a small group of figurative sculptures
and corresponding photographic images, which bear the common title
‘United Enemies’ Each of these works consists of two little men, tied together
on a piece of pvc pipe which serves as a base, dressed in colorful scraps of
fabric and placed under a bell jar for display. The faces resemble the
character studies of Daumier: ruthless, yet imbued with a love of the human
species. In their grotesque features, one can easily read anger, shrewdness and
mutual distrust – and the types of concern that these wicked figures may well
force upon each other. But one never knows with Schütte. They might as well be
friends, united in word, but just as divided by their own plans and
ambitions.