PHILIPP FÜRHOFER

Man fights against his own transience and is ultimately forced into the natural cycle of growth and decay. Would it not be advisable to appreciate what is given? To celebrate the natural beauty of flora and fauna, as Fürhofer does in works such as Lampedusa? The commercial growth that he critically addresses in his works destroys what grows naturally.

In addition to this critical attitude, Philipp Fürhofer also celebrates the beauty, fragility and romance of nature in his pulsating light boxes and densely placed, colourful images. As a viewer, you are inspired and are reminded of his magical stage sets and museum exhibition productions. Through Philipp Fürhofer’s special, complex technique of multi-layered painted, scratched and mirrored interior and exterior surfaces, he creates a diverse, magical world of images whose fascination is hard to resist. A series of smaller formats that are thematically based on the larger works—with exotic titles such as Damascus, Phuket, Wyoming or Casablanca—also show the branched structures, flowers, leaves and roots typical of his work, which seem to merge into human cells, veins and bones like a hybrid.

From October 24th, a large three-part work by Philipp Fürhofer will also be shown in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich as part of the exhibition Eccentric—Aesthetics of Freedom. In both geographical and thematic proximity, a thematic bridge is created in Munich between these two simultaneous exhibitions in which his work can be seen alongside works by artists such as Mickalene Thomas, Andy Hope and Jonathan Meese.