GSA Degree Show 2024
Felix Bode gives form and feeling to those deserted spaces of travel, forms we all know and feelings we all process, but are accelerated in time and space. As he himself puts it, "the blankness of images one sees when travelling, lost in thought, and the post-industrial landscapes that pass the window at high speed." Spaces of travel, Marc Auge's non-places, are temporary and seem to never completely solidify in our hearts and in our home. Felix picks a place that never exists completely, as it sits between the place of departure and the one we so long for; and sits between the place of arrival and the place we so much think of.
Heimweh, which is family to Heimat (german for the longing for home), is especially sought after in Felix's work. Heimat in art finds nostalgia, beauty, memory and place. We are confronted with its live force every time we seek.
In times of increasing far-right nationalism, mirroring the rise of Nazism and fascism, we artists and creatives must continue to redefine Heimat as a concept of togetherness. We sometimes forget that art is our hope to find peace and love, where we craft a place for everybody.
It is therefore even more of great importance to take a look at work like Felix's, as it reminds us that there are other and better ways to discuss home and the individual connection between the outer and inner world. That we find time to express ourselves and that we look closer and not create idealized and generalized worlds that bring harm to other.
Felix uses photography as a source for his painting. From something that is fixated, he wipes away, and repaints, thereby challenging finality and the absolute, while depth, patience and memory is able to be part. I would like to end it here by saying that it is a great honor to make a post on Felix Bode.
Heimweh, which is family to Heimat (german for the longing for home), is especially sought after in Felix's work. Heimat in art finds nostalgia, beauty, memory and place. We are confronted with its live force every time we seek.
In times of increasing far-right nationalism, mirroring the rise of Nazism and fascism, we artists and creatives must continue to redefine Heimat as a concept of togetherness. We sometimes forget that art is our hope to find peace and love, where we craft a place for everybody.
It is therefore even more of great importance to take a look at work like Felix's, as it reminds us that there are other and better ways to discuss home and the individual connection between the outer and inner world. That we find time to express ourselves and that we look closer and not create idealized and generalized worlds that bring harm to other.
Felix uses photography as a source for his painting. From something that is fixated, he wipes away, and repaints, thereby challenging finality and the absolute, while depth, patience and memory is able to be part. I would like to end it here by saying that it is a great honor to make a post on Felix Bode.
Vincent Maria Jäger, Saturday, 6. July 2024
My practice melds the mediums of oil painting and printmaking and is characterised by an interplay between spontaneity and precision. Using photography is not an end in itself, but rather as a source of inspiration, providing reference material for my research. In the words of Gerhard Richter painting “shows something that isn't there”, something that is not possible through photography alone.
Through my work, I am reconciling two contradictory notions: the ephemeral and fluid nature of time and the intensity of individual thought and feeling. My paintings depict vast scenes that are detached from the feeling I attribute to them, emphasising the fleeting nature of images in the contemporary world. It is through the process of painting that I connect scenery and inner emotion.
I am inspired by the blankness of images one sees when travelling, lost in thought, and the post-industrial landscapes that pass the window at high speed. The images I paint are blank stares, gazing into the distance – similar to the feeling of travelling home and being consumed by my thoughts or feelings. The detachment of your inner consciousness and your surroundings intrigues me.
I am particularly drawn to the vehicles that propel us through this ever-shifting world—trams, trains, cars, planes—symbols of societal progress. Just looking at the massive changes that these vehicles have endured through the years is an experience strong enough to open a discussion on how their representation has changed.
My studio practice is responding to the fastness of the photographic sources. I prefer to use a trial-and-error-based approach than a slow build-up of my work. I am responding to the saturation and prolificacy of images in contemporary society. I cover the surface in thick oil paint and wipe away using solvents and various self-made tools to uncover the bright ground colour. In this manner, the paintings themselves become ‘almost abstractions’ of the images I take, which is inspired by the paintings of Carol Rhodes. Through editing, projecting, painting, wiping away, and repainting, the image changes and holds a trace of what was originally seen.
I like to look at this process as if it would be the specific moment when an image in my head slips away as I try to remember it. I am interested in the properties of images and their very particular transitory status in the contemporary world. The ever-changing mental representation of an image from memory is an element of significant importance in my practice. In the end, each painting is usually adjacent to someone I have met or is present in my life. Their presence continues in the act of painting, and the image can be influenced by thoughts from a different time or space.
Through my work, I am reconciling two contradictory notions: the ephemeral and fluid nature of time and the intensity of individual thought and feeling. My paintings depict vast scenes that are detached from the feeling I attribute to them, emphasising the fleeting nature of images in the contemporary world. It is through the process of painting that I connect scenery and inner emotion.
I am inspired by the blankness of images one sees when travelling, lost in thought, and the post-industrial landscapes that pass the window at high speed. The images I paint are blank stares, gazing into the distance – similar to the feeling of travelling home and being consumed by my thoughts or feelings. The detachment of your inner consciousness and your surroundings intrigues me.
I am particularly drawn to the vehicles that propel us through this ever-shifting world—trams, trains, cars, planes—symbols of societal progress. Just looking at the massive changes that these vehicles have endured through the years is an experience strong enough to open a discussion on how their representation has changed.
My studio practice is responding to the fastness of the photographic sources. I prefer to use a trial-and-error-based approach than a slow build-up of my work. I am responding to the saturation and prolificacy of images in contemporary society. I cover the surface in thick oil paint and wipe away using solvents and various self-made tools to uncover the bright ground colour. In this manner, the paintings themselves become ‘almost abstractions’ of the images I take, which is inspired by the paintings of Carol Rhodes. Through editing, projecting, painting, wiping away, and repainting, the image changes and holds a trace of what was originally seen.
I like to look at this process as if it would be the specific moment when an image in my head slips away as I try to remember it. I am interested in the properties of images and their very particular transitory status in the contemporary world. The ever-changing mental representation of an image from memory is an element of significant importance in my practice. In the end, each painting is usually adjacent to someone I have met or is present in my life. Their presence continues in the act of painting, and the image can be influenced by thoughts from a different time or space.