Darryl Furtkamp is a mixed media artist working in the Post-modern tradition. His assemblages and paintings and works on paper incorporate painting, drawing, collage and mixed media arranged in hand-crafted frames or appropriated found objects in an altarpiece-like format. Images and material are layered and subtly glazed to disguise some areas while illuminating others.
Art History informs and influences these works, where the narrative content alludes to parallels in the religious, political and cultural life of rural 16th and 17th Century Europe (the rise of fundamental religious movements, ongoing wars, financial collapse, etc.) with rural culture in contemporary Western society. Thematically, they address customs and beliefs that have continued on into the 21st Century, where the interplay of external human forces (religious, cultural, political) has allowed and encouraged cultural piety and debauchery simultaneously.
The scale and format of the works evoke objects of reverence – the formality of Byzantine icons, late medieval manuscripts and Renaissance altarpieces. However, upon closer inspection these whimsical, non-traditional narratives illuminate the contradictions in belief and practice. They invite reflection on one’s personal beliefs, their genesis and evolution, while wondering at the power of our inherited systems.
Art History informs and influences these works, where the narrative content alludes to parallels in the religious, political and cultural life of rural 16th and 17th Century Europe (the rise of fundamental religious movements, ongoing wars, financial collapse, etc.) with rural culture in contemporary Western society. Thematically, they address customs and beliefs that have continued on into the 21st Century, where the interplay of external human forces (religious, cultural, political) has allowed and encouraged cultural piety and debauchery simultaneously.
The scale and format of the works evoke objects of reverence – the formality of Byzantine icons, late medieval manuscripts and Renaissance altarpieces. However, upon closer inspection these whimsical, non-traditional narratives illuminate the contradictions in belief and practice. They invite reflection on one’s personal beliefs, their genesis and evolution, while wondering at the power of our inherited systems.
