SUNSETS SOON FORGOTTEN

FRIEDRICH KUNATH

15 August 2025 / 4 October 2025

Avlskarl Gallery er stolte af at præsentere Sunsets Soon Forgotten, som er den tyske maler og skulptør Friedrich Kunaths tredje soloudstilling i galleriet.

I Sisyfosmyten slæber hovedpersonen hver dag en enorm sten op ad en bjergside og når hver aften toppen. Men hver morgen, når han vågner, ligger stenen igen for bjergets fod, og han må starte forfra med sit hårde slid. I den klassiske myte er Sisyfos’ arbejde en straf pålagt af guderne, men i en moderne læsning er historien en metafor den eksistentielle kamp for at finde mening med tilværelsen.

Sunsets Soon Forgotten er, som titlen antyder, en udstilling fyldt med aftenlandskaber. Dagen er overstået, mørket falder på og kalder til hvile, før det hele starter forfra. I kunsthistorisk og religiøs forstand markerer solnedgangen ofte en afslutning, en død eller et tab, men hus Kunath – og Sisyfos – er der snarere tale om en overgang.

I et sort-hvidt maleri springer en delfin op af havet og hænge i luften, mens en billedtekst siger: I restored my will to live again. Sådan er det i Kunaths verden: Mørket afløses af lys, og selv de hårdeste kampe kan overkommes. Men solen går altid ned igen, melankolien og tristheden vender tilbage, og Sisyfos må rulle sin sten op af bjerget endnu engang.

Friedrich Kunaths visuelle univers er spændt ud imellem to ekstremer: Imellem grandiositeten og den poetiske alvor i den tyske romantiske tradition, som Kunath husker fra sin barndom i 1980’ernes Østtyskland, og en legede humoristisk og tegneserie-agtig popkultur, som han henter fra sin nuværende hjemby Los Angeles. En gennemgående figur i Kunaths billeder er en serie små animerede frugter med instrumenter, som synes at være faret vild og have bevæget sig ind i et helt forkert billede. I de tunge, melankolske landskaber stikker de ud, bryder med billedernes sublime patos og minder os om, at der midt i mørket og sorgen findes glimt af en helt umiddelbar, næsten tåbelig, lykke.

Kunath kalder tegneseriefrugterne for Fruit Troupes, en lille hær af fjollede musikanter, der marcherer ind over landskaberne som en slags Tourette syndrom, hver gang noget bliver for højstemt. I værkerne bakkes de op af de billedtitler, der som en slags sangtekster står skrevet et sted på lærredet, og som emmer af håb og optimisme: Storms Never Last, står der et sted. We Must Believe In Spring, hedder et andet.

I et lille oliemaleri ser vi siloutterne af to palmer mod en en farvemættet himmel, hvor solen netop er gået ned. De har taget hinandens hånd: We Won’t Let Go, siger billedteksten, mens de to træer som et gammelt ægtepar kigger mod horisonten. Sådan kan vi møde Kunaths værker, som en sjæleven og en støtte. Kunath lader melankolien tale som en stille erkendelse af livets uundgåelige eksistentielle kamp – som Sisyfos, der hver dag møder sin skæbne med åben bevidsthed. Men netop dér, i erkendelsen af livets byrde, opstår også en mening. En påmindelse om, at vi kan overkomme selv de hårdeste kriser, og at lyset altid vender tilbage – omend kun for en enkelt dag.

Friedrich Kunath (f. 1974, Chemnitz, Østtyskland) er uddannet fra Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig i 1998. Han har haft soloudstilinger på Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Kunsthalle Baden Baden og Aspen Art Museum og har deltaget i gruppeudstillinger på Palazzo Grassi, Venedig, Tate Modern, London og Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Hans værker findes i samlinger på MOMA New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris og Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. I 2018 udkom den første store monografi om Kunaths værk, I Don’t Worry Anymore, på forlaget Rizzoli. Siden 2007 har Kunath boet og arbejdet i Los Angeles, USA.

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Avlskarl Gallery is proud to present Sunsets Soon Forgotten, which is the German painter and sculptor Friedrich Kunath’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

In the myth of Sisyphus, the protagonist drags an enormous stone up a mountainside every day, reaching the top each evening. But every morning, when he wakes up, the stone lies at the foot of the mountain again, and he must start the laborious task anew. In the classical myth, Sisyphus’ work is a punishment imposed by the gods, but in a modern reading, the story becomes a metaphor for the existential struggle to find meaning in life.

Sunsets Soon Forgotten is, as the title suggests, an exhibition filled with evening landscapes. The day is over, darkness falls, and it calls for rest before everything starts over again. In both an art historical and religious sense, sunsets often signify an ending, a death, or a loss, but for Kunath – and Sisyphus – this is rather a transition.

In a black-and-white painting, a dolphin leaps from the sea and hangs in the air, while a caption reads: I restored my will to live again. That’s how it is in Kunath’s world: darkness is replaced by light, and even the hardest battles can be overcome. But the sun always sets again, melancholy and sadness return, and Sisyphus must roll his stone up the mountain once more.

Friedrich Kunath’s visual universe is stretched between two extremes: The grandeur and poetic seriousness of the German Romantic tradition, which Kunath recalls from his childhood in 1980s East Germany, and a playful, humorous and cartoonish pop culture, which he draws from his current hometown of Los Angeles. A recurring figure in Kunath’s works is a series of small animated fruits with instruments, which seem to be lost and have wandered into the wrong picture. In the heavy, melancholic landscapes, they stand out, breaking the sublime pathos of the images, reminding us that amid the darkness and sorrow, there are glimpses of immediate, almost foolish, happiness.

Kunath calls these cartoon fruits Fruit Troupes, a little army of silly musicians marching across the landscapes like a kind of Tourette syndrome, every time something gets too grandiose. In the works, they are supported by the titles written somewhere on the canvas, which, like song lyrics, exude hope and optimism: Storms Never Last, one title reads. We Must Believe In Spring, says another.

In a small oil painting, we see the silhouettes of two palm trees against a richly colored sky, just after the sun has set. They are holding hands: We Won’t Let Go, says the caption, as the two trees gaze toward the horizon like an old married couple. This is how we may encounter Kunath’s works: as a soulmate and a source of comfort. Kunath lets melancholy speak as a quiet acknowledgment of life’s inevitable existential struggle — like Sisyphus, who meets his fate each day with open awareness. Yet it is precisely in this recognition of life’s burden that meaning arises. A reminder that we can endure even the harshest crises, and that the light always returns — if only for a single day.

Friedrich Kunath (b. 1974, Chemnitz, East Germany) graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig in 1998. He has held solo exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, and the Aspen Art Museum, and has participated in group exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Tate Modern, London, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His works are part of collections at MOMA New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. In 2018, the first major monograph on Kunath’s work, I Don’t Worry Anymore, was published by Rizzoli. Since 2007, Kunath has lived and worked in Los Angeles, USA.