During the past ten years, humor has turned up with increasing frequency in contemporary art, serving as both a means of entertainment and an extremely effective critical device. Situation Comedy presents more than sixty works—video and sound installations, paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs—by younger as well as more established contemporary artists working primarily in North America and Europe.

In a time of widespread political upheaval, artists are injecting a healthy dose of comedy, both light-hearted and dark, into their work. In images dealing with pranks, cruelty, and embarrassment, they utilize the leveling power of humor to break down barriers of taste and to question authority at every turn. They employ parody and satire, slapstick, and practical jokes to establish an immediate rapport with viewers, and to encourage laughter in museum environments that are too often considered sacrosanct and austere.

Situation Comedy is co-curated by Dominic Molon, Pamela Alper associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and Michael Rooks, curator of Euopean and American Art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with an essay by Molon and Rooks, and a text by author and humorist David Sedaris.

Christian Jankowski, The Hunt, 1992

Exhibition Itinerary

The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
September 9- December 31, 2005

Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois
February 4 – April 9, 2006

Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
June 10 – September 10, 2006

MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
October 7, 2006 – January 1, 2007

Salina Art Center, Salina, Kansas
January 26 – April 22, 2007