Marc Brandenburg Ebay 02-07503-21202, 2025

Marc Brandenburg’s shimmering graphite drawing Ebay 02-07503-21202 (2025), depicts an unusual table lamp against a neutral grey background. The title of the work is derived from the order number of the lamp, which Brandenburg purchased on eBay. The lamp’s base features characters from the Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz (1939): Dorothy, her dog Toto, and the Tin Man gather around the ghostly trunk of the talking apple tree. Brandenburg has added the figure of a grinning clown to the group, who fits organically into the fantasy setting and the coded gay subtext. He is a miniature version of the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was known as the ‘Killer Clown’ because he appeared at children’s parties in Chicago wearing homemade costumes. By seamlessly juxtaposing the film’s psychologically complex characters with the figure of Gacy, Brandenburg fuses this visual myth of depression-era America with a symbol of repression and annihilation.