Franziska Furter
Photo: Mark Niedermann
Franziska Furter
Switzerland born 1972
Level 2
NGV International
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PROJECT
With an interest in visualising invisible phenomena, Franziska Furter has regularly returned to the weather as a subject matter in her work over the past two decades.
The powerful force of nature is made tangible in Liquid skies/Gyrwynt (meaning ‘hurricane’ in Welsh), which depicts a composite of multiple infrared satellite images of hurricanes. Within these wild and colourful visualisations is a tension between the beauty of vibrant imagery and the destructiveness of the natural disaster it represents. The soft rug invites audiences to rest and consider our place within the landscape.
Floating above, the installation Haku comprises thousands of hand-threaded glass beads that emulate ethereal swathes of fog. The work was partly inspired by J. M. W. Turner’s atmospheric painting Falls of Schaffhausen, c. 1845, which is on display in this gallery along with other historical paintings from the NGV Collection depicting weather scenes and seascapes. The title of this installation, Haku, has origins in both Japanese (meaning ‘white’) and Hawaiian (meaning ‘to braid’) language, and is also the name of a character in Studio Ghibli’s film Spirited Away (2001), one of Furter’s favourite movies.
ABOUT
Franziska Furter’s work encompasses drawing, sculpture and installation. Her methodical approach to process and materials often seeks to make invisible phenomena visible. After studying sculpture in Basel, Furter moved to London and later Berlin, and is now based in Basel. She has undertaken residencies in Tokyo, London, Paris and Cairo, and her work is represented in museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Contemporary Art Society, Edinburgh; Kunstmuseum Basel; and Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Yverdon; Birgit Lauda Art Foundation, Vienna; and group exhibitions at Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich and Kunsthalle Basel.
The NGV warmly thanks Alana Kirby on behalf of the Sun Foundation, and Brendan and Grace O’Brien for their support.
This artist has been supported by the Elizabeth Summons Grant in Memory of Nicholas Draffin.