POSTCARDS TO AZ: PORTRAIT OF ACTRESS ANNI MEWES, 1917/1921 BY EDWIN SCHARFF, ENTARTETE KUNST, NUM3; WALTER DEXEL MO, 1925, KUNSTHAUS LEMPERTZ NUM 2; UNKNOWN 1; SKYSCAPE NO.6; EDWIN SCHARFF, PORTRAIT OF ANNI MEWES, 1921 NUM 4; OTTO FREUNDLICH, LARGE HEAD (THE NEW MAN); PAUL KLEE, ZEICHEN IN GELB; BERLIN SCULPTURE FIND OF 2010, OTTO FREUNDLICH'S KOPF BEI DER BERGUNG; ROEDER, SCHWANGERE, 1918

Spanish-born, New York-based Martí Cormand’s recent series of postcard-sized paintings and drawings take as their starting point the 2010 excavation of eleven works included in the Nazi Degenerate Art exhibition (a show of 650 works by artists, many widely collected by museums, that the Nazis objected to for their expressive qualities). Among the works in Cormand’s grouping are other artists included in the 1937 exhibition (though Cormand depicts their works as blurred versions of the original) and a few mysterious pieces invented by the artist. “AZ” in the title refers to Adolf Ziegler, organizer of the Degenerate Art exhibition, and Cormand’s postcards for him suggest a complex dialogue with art, history, and remembrance. Cormand’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at venues in Europe and the US.