Beer (HD, color, sound, 35 minutes), documents the inner conflict of the artist that arises from the nomination for the prestigious Dr. A. H. Heineken Prize for Art in 2018. Receiving the prestigious and well remunerated award, which is granted every two years by the family Heineken of the beer company to five international scientists and one Dutch artist (almost always a mid-career one), leads to a course of existential questions by the 50 years old Van Lieshout. The varied cast of personalities and locations in Beer ruminates on various issues: art, aging, money, politics, charity, diplomacy, integrity, and, of course, the many sides, both good and bad, of beer. A former Heineken scandal in Africa leads to a visit to Dar es Salaam and to frank comments of Van Lieshout in several press releases such as a local radio interview and a national magazine celebrating the prize. Previously praised and awarded by the Prize jury for his radical, political work, the artist suddenly finds himself in a complicated web of apology, fear, crisis, and corporate identity. “If no one is naive anymore, then it’s no fun”, Van Lieshout cries.
The New York Times writes about Beer: “It all raises the question if artists can still be social critics, tricksters and renegades when they’re accepting corporate money. And beneath that is another, more universal question: Is this the twilight of idols, the last gasp of Great White Men dominating art and life?”