Friedrich Kunath: The Art Of Surviving November

Friedrich Kunath (b. 1974) creates works which converge the banal with the extraordinary, embracing counterpoints and uncovering universal emotional experiences such as loss, hope, fear, celebration and love. Often taking the form of idealised landscapes layered with poetic phrases, works by Kunath have been known to feature anything from a postcard to a perfume scent, pulling from a vortex of references.

Kunath’s oeuvre spans painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and video. Informed by the artist’s own personal history, but also music, German Romanticism and American pop culture, the works are imbued with both tradition and modernity. With an equally diverse subject matter, they illustrate themes of tragedy, comedy and romance, freely shifting between the three and occupying a unique space between irony and sincerity.

‘This sense of homesickness permeates my complete oeuvre – this aspect of the ambiguity of our existence. To paint or to make these works is to feel at home. To feel found, to feel understood.’ 

F. Kunath in conversation with K. Bech Dyg, ‘Friedrich Kunath – The Way I Work’, for the Louisiana Channel, 2021