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
