The Rape of Creativity
Modern Art Oxford
until June 8 |
By Jenny Enarsson Jake and Dinos Chapman are known for being shocking, irreverent and blasphemous. Their new exhibition at Modern Art Oxford will most likely shock some – but probably because of its form than its content.  The point for the Chapmans is not to make a statement but to press the right buttons and wind people up.  | | Jenny Enarsson |
The exhibition features different media – there are paintings, drawings, etchings, wood carvings, and installations. The exhibition is entirely made up of new pieces but refers back to much of their previous work. The brothers – who always sign their pieces jointly regardless of who actually created it – are still obsessed with the iconography of Nazi Germany and McDonald’s. The exhibition has recurring themes of swastikas, black, red and white symbols, McDonald's golden arches and McDonald's own mascot, Ronald McDonald. Insult to Injury is made up of an 80-piece series of Goya etchings – Disasters of War – which the brothers bought for £25,000.  | | Insult to Injury - Jake & Dinos Chapman 2003. |
They have ‘rectified’ it through covering the etchings with cartoon-like faces of clowns, donkeys mice and the like. The Rape of Creativity, which gave its name to the entire exhibition, is an eerie installation consisting of a real caravan situated in slightly bizarre surroundings. It seems as if the Chapmans repeatedly choose not to make a political point with their art. They have said that they are against the war on Iraq, but that Disasters of War is not a statement about that. Equally, although several of the new pieces appear to be commenting on consumer culture and its cult-like mechanisms, the brothers have stated that they are not. They have said that the reason they use McDonald’s in their art is not because they hate what it stands for, but rather because it is the trans-national corporation that most people dislike. The point for the Chapmans is not to make a statement but to press the right buttons and wind people up. Genius or rubbish – you be the judge. | 
