It’s onerous to think about a welcome mat being rolled out on the entrance to a Secret Service compound, not to mention a desk for 2 perched atop a diving platform in the course of winter. However for Frank Kunert, these unsettling situations occur virtually each day, albeit on a really small scale.
Kunert’s pictures (previously) seize a spread of buildings and interiors that for myriad causes, really feel just a bit bit “off.” Whether or not it’s a racetrack’s snack stand interrupting one of many working lanes, a solo eating desk caught out within the snow, or an idyllic but impossibly slender condo complicated, the artist’s hand-built miniature units discover the place familiarity and the uncanny meet.
Tapping into the absurdities of on a regular basis life, Kunert performs with structure, quotidian objects, customs, and our associations with house or public areas. His elaborate fashions seem reasonable sufficient at first look, however upon nearer inspection, we discover issues that problem our sense of scale and materials, like chalk strains on a racetrack or powdered sugar-like snow.
Kunert meticulously designs the lighting, furnishings, wall coverings, and outside settings to present the impression of a actuality turned sideways—generally actually. His compositions possess a darkish, ironic undertone, prompting us to pause and suspect, for instance, whether or not what’s on the opposite aspect of the nondescript door labeled “FUN” is definitely as marketed. Persons are by no means current, however we are able to think about prospects having simply left a restaurant or a house owner sitting simply inside a closed door.
Kunert is at present engaged on a sequence titled Desires Come True, some pictures from that are proven right here, which will likely be compiled in a e-book or exhibitions down the road. And later this month, Hatje Cantz releases a brand new monograph, The Best of Frank Kunert, now accessible for pre-order. Discover extra on the artist’s website and Instagram.
