Cowboy boots, epaulettes, leather aprons, and bodices­—in the sculptures, videos, and performances of Mike Bourscheid (1984 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg) the characters are wearing eccentric garments. These elements already tell stories and refer to their typical wearers, as well as their place in (cultural) history. However, does this turn a character automatically into a princess, a cowboy or a father?

Mike Bourscheid designs and manufactures complex and symbolically charged costumes and makes them the center of his artworks. He lets his protagonists wear these self-tailored, pottered, forged, or carved objects with great implicitness—while dancing, eating, or walking on the treadmill, even if sometimes they can barely move.

In his humorous pieces, the artist plays with ideas of interpersonal relationships, roles, and identities and he also questions the reliable interpretation and symbolism of form, masculinity, stature, and clothing in a mischievous and pressing way.


Image: Idealverein, 2016–2017, exhibition view Mike Bourscheid. Pisces and Capricorns, Kunstpalais, Erlangen, 2020, photo: Kilian Reil