Press Release - Alphabet of Bodies by Anton Funck
Anton Funck
”The Altering Face that we see in The World”
Oil pastel on hand dyed Kozo
23 x 19 inches
Cherry Frame w/ Engravings
2023
info@part2gallery.com
pt.2:
Opening Friday, September 15th, 6-9pm
“Alphabet of Bodies”
a solo exhibition by
Anton Funck
1523b Webster St.
Oakland, CA 94612
Showing through October 21st
info@part2gallery.com
Imagine an alphabet of bodies. In Funck’s latest solo show, the artist zooms in on his previous questions about experience and existence, through his detailed works including oil pastel on cotton paper, lithographic and wood cut prints on hand dyed cotton rag, kozo and washi paper, crayons, as well as collage on plywood. This meticulous presentation of works demonstrates the artist’s observation of our different sides, both physically and mentally, our happiness and our neuroses, our physical being, and the changes we experience over time. We have complex inner worlds in common, and we each house multiple beings at once, that are ever-changing, all the time. The works are consistent in size with a collection of smaller works, reflective of the artist's physical limitations in producing the pieces, and varying in shape and materiality. This reflects what Funck sees as a list, a dictionary, for his Alphabet of Bodies.
Anton Funck
”Through the Doorway of Grief and Loss (II)”
Oil pastel on hand dyed washi squares
16.5 x 12 inches
Cherry Frame w/ Engravings
2023
info@part2gallery.com
Funck’s personal experience with anorexia has shaped his thoughtful observations of the world, in his ability to see from multiple perspectives. Those perspectives influenced by illness, and those that in more peaceful moments, wish to break away from painful cycles and create new ones. As Funck has been grappling with his recovery and relapse in the months leading up to this exhibition, the show focuses on how difficult it is to release the sides of ourselves that feel like part of us, a limb, or someone we lean on. Leaving wounds in us that take a long time to heal once removed.
Funck’s exploration of being, and the pain and turbulence associated with this in different stages of his own human experience, is vividly represented in this show, with the artist’s use of figure throughout the works, as well as his familiar and purposeful use of colour.
There is you, here right now, experiencing moments, moments that will become memories to study. Funck considers the versions inside us and the possibilities for what we might become as our future selves, sorting through memories and his experience of time, to ask the questions - Who is really living there, inside you? How many versions of you are there?
Text by Damai Syarifuddin
Anton Funck
”It takes a Village (II)”
UNIQUE woodcut relief on hand dyed Kozo Paper
19.6 x 14.5 inches
Cherry Frame
2023
Anton Funck (He/Him, b. 1992, Copenhagen) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. In his continually evolving work, Funck relies on tactile experiences, playful experimentation, and repetition. He approaches various mediums, such as watercolor, collage, textile, and printmaking, with an open perspective and the clear belief that rules need not apply. Curiosity, presence, and sincerity guide his exploration in search of a place of enlightenment and creativity.
Funck holds a degree from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, Copenhagen.
Recent solo exhibitions include “Against the Sun” at V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, “A Letter to You and Me” at Paradise Gallery, Massachusetts, “Watercolors” at V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, and “Antumbra” at OUTPOST, Copenhagen. Recent group exhibitions include “Always and Almost Never Open” at OUTPOST, and a group show at pt. 2 Gallery, Oakland, alongside fellow artists Muzay Sesay and Ellen Siebers.