Artist: Friedrich Kunath

Galerie Max Hetzler presents One Day I’ll Follow The Byrds (Tutto Pasta), an exhibition of works by Friedrich Kunath at Goethestraße 2/3, in Berlin. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, and his first in the Berlin space.

Friedrich Kunath's oeuvre spans painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and video. His works contain references to diverse subject matters including music, film, Romanticism and pop culture. Born in Chemnitz, the artist grew up in East Berlin and later moved to Los Angeles. Both his personal history, as well as universal emotional experiences, are thematised in his work. Idealised landscapes are frequently depicted in which poetic phrases appear, sometimes clearly, sometimes hidden. For Kunath, the creative process resembles an intimate dialogue with the work. While the subconscious plays a major role, the carving of words into the wet paint creates a conscious message. The often playful motifs that follow create a complex interplay of serious and humorous elements that seem to interrelate to or cancel each other out.

New paintings by the artist are on display in the current exhibition. The title, One Day I'll Follow The Byrds (Tutto Pasta), refers to a sense of restlessness and moving on, similar to migratory birds, and is at the same time an allusion to the American rock band, The Byrds. Kunath's passion for music and film is frequently reflected in the titles or motifs he selects, which allude to the feeling of freedom and temporary oblivion of one's own reality that can be attained through immersion in a musical or cinematic work. The subjects of the works shown in this exhibition range from sombre to hopeful, and are rooted in a state of contemplation and reflection. At the centre of the show is a six-metre-long quadriptych. Two other paintings depict people seen from behind, like stills from a film. They appear to be looking at the rest of the works in the exhibition as outside observers, instead of blending in. This portrayal of observation also references Romantic painting, and can be found in reverse in Kunath's depiction of a window from which warm light emanates from behind a curtain.

The first part of the quadriptych depicts a small house on a rock. This idyllic scene refers to Franz Schubert's song Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock), which explores the simultaneous themes of longing, loneliness and hope. Pessimus and Optimus, two characters from a 1940s Russian cartoon, are depicted at the top of this part of the work building a tent together. In the centre of the large work, the spectacular landscape is interspersed with various phrases and motifs. On the far right, Der arme Poet (The Poor Poet) by Carl Spitzweg, here presented in a modified form and covered by a luxurious designer blanket, gives the scene the middle finger. It remains unclear to whom or what this gesture is directed. The popular motif of this German Romantic poet reflects the cliché of the ‘poor artist’ in Kunath's work in an ironic and critical way. Despite the abundance of themes, references and possible interpretations, individual untreated areas on the canvas leave room for further possibilities and as yet unwritten parts of the story.

Kunath's works are characterised by duality. Pop and high culture, East and West, philosophy and humour are orchestrally linked, working with and against each other, allowing the works to oscillate between memory and reality. This dynamic is complemented by comforting elements of beauty and serenity. The result is an overall picture that presents existential themes such as romance and tragedy, as well as comedy, in a manner that is simultaneously ironic and sincere.

Friedrich Kunath (b. 1974, Chemnitz, Germany) lives and works in Los Angeles. The artist’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions in institutions including G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig (2024); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (duo show, 2024); KINDL, Berlin; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (CAC), Malaga (both 2023); Kunstsammlung Jena (2021); Philara Collection, Düsseldorf (2016); Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry - le Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine; Kunsthalle Bremerhaven; CAPRI, Düsseldorf; Nassau County Museum of Art, New York (all 2014); Modern Art Oxford (2013); Sprengel Museum, Hanover (2012); Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2011); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstsaele, Berlin (both 2010); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Kunstverein Hannover (both 2009); Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Aachen (2007); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2002); and The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2000), among others.

Kunath’s work is included in the collections of Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstverein Reutlingen; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, among others.