Jutta Koether - Seasons and Sacraments

Book excerpt: Jutta Koether's translucent color fields, expressive brushstrokes and female subjects--as well as her use of poetry, art history and Mylar--can make her seem like a feminist answer to the Cologne art scene, a counterpart to artists like Martin Kippenberger, Sigmar Polke and Albert Oehlen. In fact, she is a central contemporary painter in her own right, as well as a performance artist, a musician and a critic. She collaborates musically with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Television's Tom Verlaine, contributes regularly to "Artforum" and the respected German culture magazine "Spex," and teaches in Bard College's MFA program--and has recently shown her work at Reema Spaulings Fine Art and Thomas Erben Gallery in New York. Koether's work, which the "New York Times" has called "vibrant" and "intriguing," was a standout in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. This look back documents the artist's oeuvre from the mid-80s forward, with an extensive selection of images.