JAKOB ARGAUER —
HOME SICK
Curated by Pierre Granoux
Opening SAT, MAY 21, 6 – 9pm
MAY 21 — JUNE 04, 2022
Open only by appointment
LAGE EGAL [IN THE RACK ROOM]*
Liselotte-Herrmann-Str. 26 (HH)
10407 Berlin
With the kind support of ARTBUTLER Art World Solutions and ARTLAND.“In his solo exhibition HOME SICK, Jakob Argauer (*1988 in Munich) focuses on functional objects of daily use such as windows, radiators or light switches. These objects that constitute every living and working space, but which hardly receive any attention in everyday life, are elevated by him to the status of artistic sujets. The starting point for his works are 3D renderings which are used to virtually design living spaces and are freely available online. The artist isolates these digital readymades and transforms them into objects with surreal features, subsequently applying them to the canvas in a trompe l’oeil – like manner.
Through their alienation, the lifeless objects reveal anthropomorphic features and suggest in the process of deformation an uncanny
life of their own: The dented radiator appears as a damaged “ribcage”, the delicate, bony pipe is rusting bloodily, while the double closed
window, which hermetically seals off the room, is coming apart at the seams.
The coming to life of these objects creates an uncanny shiver that stirs up scepticism about the binding nature of the familiar while equally
creating an atmosphere of unease. In HOME SICK the interior becomes a psychogram, and architecture a reference to the landscape of the
soul.
The eerie is grounded in the familiar. Home, as the epitome of the familiar, can be transformed into a ghostly place by the unexpected intrusion of the strange. The everyday object becomes a trigger of diffuse unease and a disruptor of inner stability. A door handle crawls across the gallery floor in a bizarre choreography. Rearing, falling. Rearing. Falling.”
(Text: Magdalena Mai, translated by Paul Hutchinson)
*IN THE RACK ROOM is the new side curatorial project of Pierre Granoux, based in his former artist studio, today his storage room. Each selected artist is invited to work in this rack room and to question “the relationship between where art is made and where art is displayed” (Brian O’Doherty). The creative act will be documented and displayed as an Instagram takeover: @intherackroom
