Johanna Gustafsson Fürst

Johanna Gustafsson Fürst could be described as a linguist of space, striving to bring forth the grammar hidden in our surroundings and encouraging us to participate in the re-writing of space. Her work is parasitic to the extent that it enters a space and tampers with its functions.

In her third solo show at Gallery Niklas Belenius she is using space as a notebook.

The sculpture ”NO” is composed by equal parts of control and desire, with a faded and torn garment exposed on a stand coated with copper. This precious metal is playing a central role in the global market, with the hedge funds and speculators at its centre and the thieves in its margins, searching for copper plumbing, wiring, cables and sculptures

Juxtaposing copper is an anonymous green colour, frequently used in public spaces. As copper prices skyrocket, the value of the commonly owned is declining. While copper is being protected, public green is being painted over with corporate colours.

Doubt, trial and error is expressed through the art works. The thoughts are not finished, but they are embodied in works such as the Frankenstein-like “Europe” and in “Words” in which the copper and public green meet joined by a halfway fastened screw.

The high density and complexity of meaning in the works do not aim for completion. Johanna Gustafsson Fürst is aspiring to make the unfinished permanent. The thoughts in her three-dimensional notebook are drafts, to be developed in collaboration with the visitors.