his exhibition presents over twenty pieces, some of them for the first time in Europe, created between 1978 and 1994, the year of Edward Kienholz’s death. Life-size installations, three-dimensional tableaux and assemblage works made from everyday items, their works lie beyond the boundaries of sculpture, depicting an unsettling world as fascinating as it is repellent. Far from the conventions of readymade or pop art, their strange scenes are populated by human figures and manufactured items that create an ambiguous and mysterious realism. The aim is to offer a fierce criticism of the dysfunctionalities of American society: unbridled consumerism, everyday racism, sexism, structural violence and religious hypocrisy.

Their artistic engagement was rooted in visual shock and a denunciation which, although indisputably resolute, was also unfailingly subtle and elusive. While certain works convey a sense of muffled rage, others, less didactic, leave the viewer wholly free to draw their own conclusions. For example, the J.C. series of enigmatic crucifixes made from odds and ends is a puzzle: Christian devotion in a cynical world, or indictment of religious bigotry and power?

Twenty-six years after the death of Ed Kienholz and one year since Nancy died, this exhibition at Galerie Templon, which now represents the duo’s work in Europe, illustrates more clearly than ever the complexity of artists who have become part of history but whose approach, often running counter to mainstream movements of their day, turned them into visionaries.