Isabella Fürnkäs (D/F)
Born 1988 in Tokyo, JapanLives and works in Berlin and Düsseldorf
hello@isabellafuernkaes.com
Isabella Fürnkäs (*1988 in Tokyo) is a French-German artist who works in a variety of media. The body of work involves equal shares of video, multi-media installation, performance and drawing. In her multi-layered oeuvre she addresses questions of physical and spatial intimacy, the influence of digitalization on interpersonal relationships, and the transformation of social communication patterns. Fürnkäs investigates visual spaces of our present and creates contextual shifts that echo our own vulnerabilities. In the context of her works, inner images and multi-layered questions are transformed into a repertoire of media-reflexive actions via performative, installative and time-based techniques. Experimental by nature her works involve a subtle comparison of the individual and its society, creating situations in which the viewer becomes aware, by the very moment of their body through space.
She is the recipient of the Förderpreis des Landes NRW and of the Paris Cité des Arts grant. She has participated in numerous residency programs including the Bronner Residency Tel Aviv; Goethe Institut, Dakar and the travel grant of the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen. Her work was exhibited at Museum Moyland, Folkwang Museum, Kunsthalle Wien, Sprengel Museum, Museum Abteiberg, at the 13. Biennale for Contemporary Art Dakar and in the project space of the Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf. Her performances were recently on view at Salon Acme in Mexico City, Kölnischen Kunstverein, Manifesta 11, Akademie der Künste der Welt and Pogobar KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin. Fürnkäs is a scholar of the Akademie der Künste Berlin in 2021 and the recipient of Berlin Masters Joana Schliemann Residency program of 2022.
Education
2017 — 2018
Diploma (MFA) & Meisterschülerin of Andreas Gursky
2015 — 2017
University of the Arts Berlin, Germany, Prof. Hito Steyerl
2011 — 2017
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany, Prof. Keren Cytter and Prof. Andreas Gursky
2010 — 2011
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria, Prof. Gunter Damisch
2009 — 2010
Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
2008 — 2009
Art history and Philosophy, University of Cologne, Germany
Residencies & Grants
2022
Berlin Masters Schliemann Residency Provence, France
Stiftung Kunstfonds Neustart Kultur stipend
2021
Initial Scholarship of Akademie der Künste Berlin
First prize of the "Strike a pose" K21 Kunstsammlung NRW awardStaycation Bucharest, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Sandwich & Goethe Institut Bucharest
2020
Scholarship program of the Ministry of Culture and Science NRWReset the Future prize, Tbilisi State Academy/Peter Moennig Foundation
2019
Bronner Residency Tel Aviv, Israel
Villa Aurora (nominated)
Follow Fluxus Nassauischer Kunstverein (nominated)
2018
Kunststiftung NRW project grant
Artist residency of the Goethe Institut Dakar, Senegal
Ars Viva (nominated)
2017
Cité Internationale des Arts Residency Paris, France
Travel grant of the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen
Junger Ankauf des Museums Ludwigs with Clages (nominated)
2016
Förderpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen for media art
PLX residency Malmö, Sweden
Post-Photography prize Fotomuseum Winterthur & Julius Baer Foundation (nominated)
2014
Förderpreis of the Peter Mönnig Foundation
Peter-Mertes-Stipendium (nominated)
Selected Solo Exhibitions & Performances (P*)
2023
Catalogue launch, Windhager von Kaenel, Zurich (upcoming)
Catalogue presentation Salon, Villa Schöningen, Potsdam
Siamese Dreams, Beijing Bar Lumiére, China (P*)
In Flagranti, Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland, Kleve
Ataraxia, Wilhelms Hallen with Hua International, Berlin
Metamorphoses of Control, Mouches Volantes, Cologne
Duo-booth with Fanny Gicquel at ARCO Madrid, with Hua International
Build Me a House, Hua International, BerlinSiamese Dreams, Windhager von Kaenel, ZurichUnpredictable Liars, HPP Architects, Kunstverein 701 & Düsseldorf Palermo
The Boomerang Effect, Salon ACME, Mexico City (P*)
Studio exhibition, Lagos, Mexico City (with Olga Cerkasova)
(In)definitively, Goeben, Berlin
Duo-booth with Frances Scholz at Art Cologne, with Clages
The Boomerang Effect, Aus- und Vortragen, Kölnischer Kunstverein (P*)
13th Biennale for Contemporary Art Dakar, Goethe Institut, Senegal (P*)
Metamorphoses of Control, Osthaus Museum Hagen
The Loop, ITALIC/Leipziger Str 61, Berlin
HEAVEN, Pogobar KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (with Laura Catania) (P*)
Hungry Mice & Salty Pepper, Clages, Cologne
Duo-booth with Bernhard Walther at Art Berlin, with Clages
Vice Versa, Antichambre, Digitale Düsseldorf (with Manuel Graf) (P*)
Sunday - SOLO 4 ONE, Bar Babette, Berlin
No Power Potential, SSZ Sued, Cologne
Manifesta 11, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich (P*)
White Light, Raiosha Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Video of the month, HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein (with Lukas von der Gracht)
2015
A Diachronic Home, CSA Space, Vancouver, Canada
Seesaw Policy, Filmwerkstatt, Düsseldorf (with Taya Ivanova)
Exploit & Disappear, Digital Empire, Düsseldorf, Part of the New Digital
Art Biennale „The Wrong“ (with Tanja Ritterbex)
We just stole it from the internet, 4bid Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013
Körper und Knochen, Studio for Artistic Research, Düsseldorf(with Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr)
Maps & Territories, Coco Collection, Côte d‘Argent, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
Luxembourg Art Week Art Fair, with Clages
Editions, Mouches Volantes, Cologne
Shapes of Shelter, Platform, Munich, curated by Tatjana Schäfer & Lisa Stoiber
In Between, Villa Schöningen, Potsdam
Amtsalon, with Hua International, Berlin
I got you covered, Kaiserdamm 102, Berlin, curated by Pola van den Hövel & Julia Meyer-Brehm
Die Wirklichkeit ist sowieso da, Weltkunstzimmer, curated by Thomas Rieger & Janine Blöß, Düsseldorf
Folkwang und die Stadt, Museum Folkwang & Markus Ambach Projects, Essen
Art Düsseldorf, with Clages
Bridging Borders, POST & Constant101, Arnheim, The Netherlands
Madeleine-Effekt, Orangerie Schloss Benrath Düsseldorf, curated by Leonie Runte
Staycation Bucharest, Catinca Tabacaru & Sandwich & Goethe Institut
In Abeyance, Gewölbe, project space of Art Cologne, invited by Johannes Wohnseifer
We contain multitudes, Spoiler, Berlin
Berlin Masters 2021, Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin
Strike a pose, with Clages, K21 Kunstsammlung NRW Düsseldorf
La Côte, Berlin, organized by Billie Clarken
Amores Perfeitos, A Maior Viseu, Portugal, invited by Bruno Zhou
Modern and Contemporary Art - Modern Photography Auction, Jeschke Van Liet, Berlin
Nee danke, ich gucke nur (pt 1), Clages, Cologne
Postcard Edition, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein
Direkte Auktion, Jeschke van Vliet Auctions, Berlin
Sensus presents: Light & Dark, Monom-sound, Funkhaus, Berlin, curated by Georgina Pope
Reshuffle the cards, ACCCE Berlin, curated by Gilles Neiens
25 of 78, Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund (with Lukas von der Gracht)
Paradise Libraries, Clages Gallery, Cologne
Spendenaktion Mission Lifeline, initiated by Alex Grein
You Are Here, Kunsthaus NRW, curated by Elke Kania
Art Los Angeles Contemporary, with Clages
How beautiful you are, KINDL - Center for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Benefiz Auktion, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein
Selbstsicht - Portrait-Identitäten, Sprengel Museum Hannover
They put it together, Projektraum Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin
To confess one must tell lies, Clages, Cologne
For Better or Worse, Kunstverein Göttingen
Fictional Nature, Bärenzwinger, Berlin
Welthungerhilfe Charity Auction, Langen Foundation, Neuss
Get some Headspace, Ralphs, curated by Juliane Duft, Cologne
ANTARCTICA – An Exhibition on Alienation, Kunsthalle Wien, Austria
Insane in the membrane, Philara Collection, Düsseldorf
Words don‘t come easy, KIT, Düsseldorf
The Way Things Go Part III: Wage, PS120, Berlin, curated by Jeppe Ugelvig & Justin Polera
IS IT A GAME, Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin, invited by Omsk Social ClubLast dance by Autocenter, KINDL Center for Contemporary Art, Berlin
Art Geneve, with PS120 (with Anna-Sophie Berger, Olu Ogunnaike etc)
Face my boost by your ShotSpotter II, Bar Babette, Berlin
Face my boost by your ShotSpotter, Hardstrasse Basel, Switzerland
Von Fremden Ländern in eigenen Städten, Markus Ambach Projects, Düsseldorf
Fake it till you make it, MeetFactory, Prague, Czech Republic
Works on paper, Gussglashalle, Berlin
Morning!, Milieu, Bern, Switzerland (with Lukas von der Gracht)
International Theme Exhibition, Photo Beijing, Millennium Monument Museum, Beijing, China
Mad Tea Party, Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne, curated by Aneta Rostkowski & Dutch Art Institute
Jahresgaben 2017/2018, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfahlen, Düsseldorf
123, Goethe Institut Paris, France
72 Stunden, Bunker K101, Jungekunstfreunde des Museum Ludwigs, Cologne
Welthungerhilfe Charity Auktion, Langen Foundation, Neuss
Wrap around the time, Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul, Korea, curated by Gregor Jansen and Hyun Jeung Kim
On the currents of the city, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (with Lukas von der Gracht), curated by Susanne Titz and Markus Ambach
Manifesta 11, Cabaret Voltaire, Zürich, Switzerland
Shift your base II, Simultanhalle, Cologne
One month: After the materialization of the art object, Temporary Galley, Cologne
Die Grosse, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
Doppel X, Kunstverein Mönchengladbach, curated by Hannah Eckstein
A Sense of Place, Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof
SIREN, Ernst-Reuter-Platz, University of the Arts Berlin, curated by Magdalena Mitterhofer & Artur Chruczsz
Ung5 Auktion, Clusterhaus, Cologne (with Lukas von der Gracht)
Cold bodies warm machines, Medienwerk.nrw, NRW Forum, Düsseldorf
Snow Show I Mostra Della Neve, San Cadide, Italy, initiated by Magdalena Mitterhofer
Very Short Filmfestival, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France (with Lukas von der Gracht)
OFF, Kunsthaus Essen, curated by New Bretagne
Aw:Re:Re:Fwd Lensdbased Class of Hito Steyerl, Leipziger Str. 63, Berlin
Performance True Love Chapter 1, Seiras at Dan Graham Pavilion, initiated by Yael Salomonowitz & Max Mayer, Düsseldorf (with Lukas von der Gracht)
PricewaterhouseCoopers Förderpreis, Düsseldorf
Localnonsculpture, Athens Digital Arts Festival, Athens, Greece
Cologne Fine Art, with New Bretagne
Drone Hits (Inteeractive Installation), NADA Art Cologne, initiated by Keren Cytter and Melissa Logan
What A B, What A B Projects, Frankfurt
Kunstfilmtage Düsseldorf, UFA-Kino, Düsseldorf
Hogan Lovells Kunstförderpreis, Düsseldorf
STEADY STATE, Kunstverein Duisburg
No. 3, McKinsey SkyOffice, Düsseldorf
En El Castillo, International Museum of Contemporary Art Lanzarote
Overbeckstrasse, Galerie Fiebach Minninger, Cologne
PLASTIC WATERS, Therme Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
BODY LIGHT, Venus & Apoll, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf
TAUSEND, Sechzigstraße 13, Cologne
Fragile Islands, Parkhaus im Malkastenpark, Düsseldorf
Jet Age - An Homage, SO+BA, Tokyo, Japan, curated by Milan Ther
Klasse Gursky stellt aus, Raiosha Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
WE ARE IN A BAR, Lover Bar at ehem. Max Mayer Gallery, Düsseldorf
it‘s so green, das junge Museum, Bottrop
2012
Organic Structures, Annasatoko Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Klangperformance, Insel Hombroich Raketenstation, Neuss
Kurzfilme, Kunstfilmkino Black Box, Düsseldorf
Work the room, Foyer, Nacht der Museen, Düsseldorf
Back from Japan, Hans-Peter-Zimmer Stiftung, Düsseldorf
Curatorial Projects, Juries & Tutoring
Jury of the Bauhaus-University Weimar for the BTBB-Prize 2021 & 2020
Workshop on Post Digital Relationality at the ZHdK (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste), with Jeppe Ugelvig & Marie-France RafaelTutorial with the Institute for Media and Cultural Studies, University of Hildesheim, with Vera Tollmann
Jury member of the 63. Internationale Kunstfilmtage Oberhausen, International Competition, Germany
Jury of the admission committee of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
STEADY STATE, Kunstverein Duisburg (Group show, curated with Alex Grein)Société Infinie e.V., Düsseldorf (Proposal for a temporary project space, with Morgaine Schäfer and Janosch Jauch)
PLASTIC WATERS, Therme Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (Group show)
Jet Age - An Homage, - A Discussion of Jet Age Internationalism - Transportation / Transformation, SO+BA, Tokyo, Japan (Group show, curated with Milan Ther)
Klasse Gursky stellt aus, Raiosha Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (Group show, curated with Moritz Wegwerth)BODY LIGHT, Venus & Apoll, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf (Group show, curated with Melike Kara)
Selected Publications
Insomnia Drawings, Windhager von Kaenel, Zurich (Catalogue, upcoming)
Shapes of Shelter, Platform, Munich (Publication, upcoming)
SSZ Sued, catalogue launch at Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne (Catalogue)
Die Wirklichkeit ist sowieso da, Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf (Magazine)Metamorphoses of Control, solo exhibition at Osthaus Museum (Catalogue)Folkwang und die Stadt, Museum Folkwang & MAP (Magazine)Kunsthaus NRW Guide book (Catalogue)
Madeleine Effekt, Orangerie Schloss Benrath (Publication)
In Abeyance, Gewölbe (Publication)
Interview feature with Raum www at Gr_und (Catalogue)
Strike a pose feature, Monopol Magazine (Magazine)
HMKV Videos of the Month 2014-2020 (Catalogue)
INDEX Berlin Cover (Booklet)
Interview with Lisa Long for MOFF-Magazin Cologne (Magazine)
Interview with Thorsten Nolting, Magazin für Kritik, Ästhetik und Religion, with Markus Steinweg,
Gregor Jansen etc (Magazine)
Von fremden Ländern in eigenen Städten, MAP (Magazine)
On the currents of the city, Museum Abteiberg (Magazine)
Monopol Watchlist (Magazine, 11/2017)
International Theme Exhibition, Photo Beijing (Catalogue)
SOLO FOR ONE, Bar Babette Berlin (Publication)
Wrap around the time, Nam June Paik Art Center (Catalogue)
ART COLLECTOR with SSZ Sued (Magazine)
Die Kunstzeitung, Interview with Anke Ernst (Newspaper)
HELLO, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Magazine)
PricewaterhouseCoopers Förderpreis (Catalogue)
STEADY STATE, Kunstverein Duisburg (Catalogue)
Follow Up, McKinsey No.3 (Publication)
Kunstfilmtage Düsseldorf 2014 (Publication)
Keio University Tokyo, Journal of Arts and Letters (Publication)
Interviews
Video interview with Beate Scheder for Medienwerk.NRW (Online, 28:46min)
Interview with Leonie Runte for Madeleine Effekt (Online)
Interview with Celina Plag for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Online)
Video interview with Gilles Neiens for Good to talk Berlin (Online, 4:54min)
Interview with Beate Scheder for TAZ (Online)
Interview with Leon Jankowiak for Kuba Paris (Online)
Interview with Anke Ernst for Die Kunstzeitung (Newspaper)
Interview with Gregor Jansen and Raphaela Vogel for Goethe Institut Seoul (Online)
Selected Online Features
Isabella Fürnkäs ”Build Me a House” at HUA International, Berlin, Mousse Magazine and Publishing
Isabella Fürnkäs bei Hua International Berlin, Gallerytalk
Isabella Fürnkäs at Hua International, Art Viewer
BUILD ME A HOUSE, YYYYMMDD
Isabella Fürnkäs at Windhager von Kaenel, Contemporary Art Switzerland
Wo hört Mode auf, wo fängt Kunst an?, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Isabella Fürnkäs, Tique
you are here – KünstlerInnen aus NRW auf Reisen, Kunstforum
Ausstellungsempfehlung für Berlin: Das Denken, ein endloser Loop, TAZ
New models of togetherness via digital spaces in the For Better Or Worse
groupexhibition curated by Tomke Braun & Daniela Seitz, AQNB
Antarktika at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna | Contemporary Art Daily, Contemporary Art Daily
Calmer? Softer? Quieter? | Monopol, Monopol Magazine
Hungry Mice & Salty Pepper – KubaParis, KubaParis
Public Collections
Ulsan Art Museum South Korea
Burger Collection Zurich/Hong Kong
Provinzial Kunstsammlung
Collection of the Kunsthaus NRW
Artothek des Landes NRW
Collection of Hessische Landesbank
Philara Collection Düsseldorf
Artist Talks
Bridging Borders, Constant101 / POST, Arnhem
Unpredictable Liars Revolt, HPP Architects, Kunstverein 701 & Düsseldorf Palermo
Women Art Revolution & Artists Anonymous, Clubhouse talks by Elda Oreto
Talk to me #6 with Elda Oreto, Instagram
Selbstsicht - Portrait-Identitäten, Sprengel Museum
On the currents of the city, Museum Abteiberg
Wrap around the time, Nam June Paik Art Center & Goethe Institut Seoul
2011
Text in German
Sie ist Preisträgerin des Förderpreis des Landes NRW und des Stipendiums Pariser Cité des Arts. Sie hat an zahlreichen Residenzprogrammen teilgenommen, darunter die Bronner Residency Tel Aviv, das Goethe Institut, Dakar und das Reisestipendium des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen. Ihre Arbeiten wurden im Folkwang Museum, in der Kunsthalle Wien, im Sprengel Museum, im Museum Abteiberg, auf der 13. Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst Dakar und im Projektraum der Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf ausgestellt. Ihre Performances waren zuletzt im Salon Acme in Mexico City, im Kölnischen Kunstverein, auf der Manifesta 11, der Akademie der Künste der Welt und im Pogobar KW Institute for Contemporary Art Berlin zu sehen. Fürnkäs ist Stipendiatin der Akademie der Künste Berlin und Preisträgerin des Berlin Masters Joana Schliemann Residency Programms in 2022.
Text by Hyun Jeung Kim
The body of work that Isabella Fürnkäs has been building up for the last years involves equal shares of drawing, installation and video. The french-german artist calls into question the perception of sameness and difference, through visual inventions of pairing and doubling of identity. Experimental by nature her works involve a subtle comparison of the individual and it’s society, creating situations in which the viewer becomes aware, by the very moment of their body, through space.
Isabella Fürnkäs is principally interested in notions of presence and identity, which she conveys by engaging viewers in physical shifts and subtle comparisons. Her installative video-graphic panels reveal complex associations and show a fragile net of conjunctions and interactions. The visual alienation of the world and it’s digital embossed dialogue, dissociate conventional time and space relations, mirroring a universe of its own.
In her recent work “In Ekklesia”, a rhythmic automized dance sprinkled with subconscious drawings and phrases/fears, shows the melt-down and power of ideals. Speculations upon fragmented sensuality and desires of irrational thought come across, letting the viewer experience himself in correlation with the space. (Text extract)
Text von Inke Arns
Isabella Fürnkäs gibt digitalen Bildern eine Körperlichkeit zurück, die man in der Welt der Oberflächen lange nicht mehr gesehen hat. Die deutsch-französische Künstlerin Isabella Fürnkäs findet in ihren Video- und Rauminstallationen, Zeichnungen, Collagen und Skulpturen einen kongenialen Ausdruck für unsere Gegenwart. Seit 2015 arbeitet sie als Performance-Duo mit Lukas von der Gracht. Isabella Fürnkäs gehört zu einer jungen Künstlergeneration und setzt mit großer Souveränität eine große Bandbreite künstlerischer Medien ein. (Textauszug)
Text von Gregor Jansen
In ihren Videoarbeiten, die eindrucksvoll eine Handy-Kamera-Ästhetik zur Geltung bringen, werden durch Überlagerungen und performative Simultanität Gegensätze wie Nähe und Ferne, Vereinzelung und Häufung neu inszeniert. Die filmischen Fragmente bilden lokale Netze und zeigen auf rhythmisch-ästhetische Weise ihr autonomes Eigenleben, das nicht mit Individualität geizt. Themen wie mediale Überreiztheit, ubiquitäre Konsumstrukturen und verletzliche Körperlichkeit werden in ihren Arbeiten zu bildlicher Evidenz gebracht. Fürnkäs‘ experimentelle und installative Bewegungsbilder reflektieren die Möglichkeiten veränderten Bewusstseins, indem sie die konventionellen Gewissheiten ad absurdum führen. In erster Linie ist Isabella Fürnkäs an den Vorstellungen von Präsenz und materiellem Sein interessiert. In ihren unterschiedlichen Medien werden sinnlich und körperlich subtile Verschiebungen und Interferenzen erfahrbar gemacht. (Textauszug)
website by Thomas Spallek & Laura Catania