Book Review: Kings Road by Mona Kuhn
© Mona Kuhn
Written by Emily Capone
Edited by Jana Massoud
There are many areas in which we feel space and time collide for two lovers, as in romantic tragedies, such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the question always remains – Will they find each other in time? That is the question I find myself asking in Mona Kuhn’s most recent monograph, Kings Road, which coincides with her solo exhibit, “835 Kings Road”, on view at the Art, Design and Architecture Museum in Santa Barbara. Both feature a photographic narrative that is based within the iconic house of architect, Rudolph Schindler (b. 1887). The house itself, located on Kings Road in West Hollywood, California, inspired Kuhn to invent her own story that may or may not have been hidden, thanks to the candid letters written by Schindler and the open nature of the house, its structure, and its surrounding landscape.
© Mona Kuhn
In her book, Kings Road, Kuhn fuses nature and architecture together with a ghost-like appearance from an unnamed woman. Kuhn’s ability to merge fiction with reality is flawless, and I am immediately caught up in her narrative: who is this woman? Was she a lover, a muse, or friend? I find myself transfixed by the character of each: the architect, the house, the muse. The story is one we’ve all read time and again, and like the rest of the audience, I am entranced by the idea of two star-crossed lovers that are forbidden to fully embrace. This hidden message of forbidden love plays out in Schindler’s note, which reads, “It’s a mistake, to place one’s whole world unto one point or person…” and in this statement I find the reflection of both Kuhn’s modern muse and Schindler’s home to merge.
© Mona Kuhn
Born in Vienna in 1887, the Austrian Architect, Rudolph Schindler, drew outside the lines of convention: his idea of the home was a “study of space” as mentioned in this biography. Kuhn recreates this “study of space”, documenting within the lines of Schindler’s blueprint, juxtaposed with the portrayal of Schindler’s muse. In this manner, Kuhn’s photographic portrayal of Schindler’s house is itself a study of space and time. As with the open nature of Schindler’s California house, the unnamed woman is left untouched, and Kuhn brings out a different kind of longing through her. The unnamed woman is pictured walking through the empty home, as if in a trance. She lounges nude on a chair, she runs her fingers softly against the hard materials of the house, she stands outside and watches the wind catch the tufted spikes of tall grass, waiting for her lover to return.
© Mona Kuhn
In tandem with this monograph of forbidden love, the images and words are brought to life in Mona Kuhn’s exhibit. Instead of framed blueprints or solarized nudes, Kuhn brings the story to life through movement and sound, which further crosses space and time. The voiceover of Schindler’s written words imposes itself on the moving images, and the viewers can imagine themselves as Schindler, working on the house, waxing poetic on the necessity of open space or the love lost in the green-eyed woman staring out the window. We cannot discern between time or place, and the reality of the house becomes a mirage, while the unnamed woman remains imprinted in our minds.
Born in Brazil in 1969, German photographer Mona Kuhn depicts the West Hollywood home of famous Austrian Architect, Rudolph M. Schindler, through the eyes of his lover, on view in her most recent monograph, Kings Road, which is available for purchase. In conjunction with her publication, her solo exhibit, 835 Kings Road is open for viewing at AD&A Museum in Santa Barbara from January 13 – May 1, 2022.
© Mona Kuhn
Mona Kuhn’s work has been featured at The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Hammer Museum. Along with her most recent monographic publication, Kings Road, Kuhn has published Evidence (2007), Native (2010), Bordeaux Series (2011), and others. Kuhn currently resides in the US and she is studying as an independent scholar at The Getty Institute of Los Angeles. To view her other works, please visit her website.
