Unpredictable Liars

Isabella Fürnkäs’ first solo exhibition at Galerie Clages evokes rapture and a loss of control. Already from outside the exhibition, oversized eyes direct one’s gaze toward four life-size figures, which are more than simply physical counterparts. On the contrary, they accumulate in the space and almost oppress the visitor with their drawn-on sensory organs, which grow in place of their faces and expand throughout the room. With their oversized teeth, ears, and tongues, they formally draw attention to the different avenues of sensory perception and seem to do so at an unabashed volume.

This drifting moment of being-thrown-off and the search for a calm point makes one‘s eyes wander further through the space. Droplets drawn on the gallery’s walls guide one‘s flowing gaze. The droplets, which inevitably conjure associations with tears, are a recurring motif in Fürnkäs’ work. They subtly work through the contradiction of water’s neutrality as an element and its natural fluidity in the form of tears and sweat, evoking the type of physical sensations and emotions that evade our control. There is something liberating in this ineluctable movement — no in-between state, nothing asked or sought-after. It seems that the overextended limbs of the figures reach, too, for that sort of autonomy.

- Text excerpt by Julia Haarman

Unpredictable Liars I, 2017

Installation, mixed media, various Japanese fabrics & cloth, oil sticks, acrylic spray, dimensions variable

Photos by Simon Vogel