David Fesl

At Sperling, Munich, Germany

May 13 – June 25, 2022

Photography by Sebastian Kissel

David Fesl’s sculptural objects bear traces of his everyday life, turning the things he uses regularly into abstract fragments. His precise assemblages, of the most diverse things of nature and everyday life are small in size, but in their balanced composition and play with our perceptions of scale and relation, certainly provide a more monumental evocation in their specific universal forms.

Like a jeweler, Fesl combines the organic and the inorganic, object and artifice, in a way that allows radically opposing elements to come together in a surreal yet harmonious way, until a new morphology emerges. A mucus shell and a scrunchie, a peach stone and an earring, an onion skin and a screw.
In these sophisticated configurations, each individual part undergoes a metamorphosis in which one component emerges concisely: its shape, its colour, its texture. Few everyday objects retain their emblematic charge and recognisable functionality. In the fragile, almost ephemeral works,
the associations triggered by the constituent objects and their narrative potential, precisely woven together, trace a constellation of experience and sensory arousal.

The gentle eroticism that characterises these works suggests a space beyond fixed attribution: connotations remain variable, evading description, things appear both masculine and feminine.
David Fesl frees what he seeks and finds from their preconceived limitations, transforming them into enigmatic forms amongst one another. In an almost painterly way, he infuses the work with his own hand. His sculptural compositions expose and transform the meanings of what constitutes them.
In their amalgamation, which is also inherent in a great craftsmanship, something new emerges,
which in its poetic visual language situates itself outside conventional categorisation. The decidedly white surrounding space that provides the framework adds an institutional-critical component to this language.

— Vanessa Joan Müller

David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, 2022, exhibition view, SPERLING, Munich
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Cap buckle, spruce wood, banksia leaf, driftwood, thistle thorns, heat shrink tube, rosehip thorns, cotton swab, 16.5×7.3×8.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Cap buckle, spruce wood, banksia leaf, driftwood, thistle thorns, heat shrink tube, rosehip thorns, cotton swab, 16.5×7.3×8.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Cap buckle, spruce wood, banksia leaf, driftwood, thistle thorns, heat shrink tube, rosehip thorns, cotton swab, 16.5×7.3×8.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, aluminum yogurt cup lid, bamboo chopstick, dried seeded fruit, parasitic plant, cloth, 13.9×6.4×2.9cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, aluminum yogurt cup lid, bamboo chopstick, dried seeded fruit, parasitic plant, cloth, 13.9×6.4×2.9cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, aluminum yogurt cup lid, bamboo chopstick, dried seeded fruit, parasitic plant, cloth, 13.9×6.4×2.9cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, soap sleeve, plastic spoon, popsicle stick, bottle cap, gummy seal, sea urchin shell, 15.4x4x2cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, soap sleeve, plastic spoon, popsicle stick, bottle cap, gummy seal, sea urchin shell, 15.4x4x2cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, soap sleeve, plastic spoon, popsicle stick, bottle cap, gummy seal, sea urchin shell, 15.4x4x2cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, lamb ribs, sewing machine coils, cotton thread, bedcloth buttons, ink and willow blossoms, 11×12.6×3.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, lamb ribs, sewing machine coils, cotton thread, bedcloth buttons, ink and willow blossoms, 11×12.6×3.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, lamb ribs, sewing machine coils, cotton thread, bedcloth buttons, ink and willow blossoms, 11×12.6×3.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, sea mineral, kitchen utensil handle, blender whisk, mobile phone keyboard, silk thread, 10.9×7.2×5.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, sea mineral, kitchen utensil handle, blender whisk, mobile phone keyboard, silk thread, 10.9×7.2×5.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, sea mineral, kitchen utensil handle, blender whisk, mobile phone keyboard, silk thread, 10.9×7.2×5.3cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Pizza box stand, wasp nest, keyring wire, pine cone, sealant nozzle, red-long-rice, 15.7×6.4×8.4cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Pizza box stand, wasp nest, keyring wire, pine cone, sealant nozzle, red-long-rice, 15.7×6.4×8.4cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2021, Pizza box stand, wasp nest, keyring wire, pine cone, sealant nozzle, red-long-rice, 15.7×6.4×8.4cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, plastic, plastic comb, oak skewer, porcelain teapot knob, tin lid, mechanical pencil refill, 18×4.2×1.9cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, plastic, plastic comb, oak skewer, porcelain teapot knob, tin lid, mechanical pencil refill, 18×4.2×1.9cm
David Fesl, Untitled, 2022, plastic, plastic comb, oak skewer, porcelain teapot knob, tin lid, mechanical pencil refill, 18×4.2×1.9cm

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