MANY NAMES by Jakup Ferri at andriesse eyck gallery in Amsterdam 2 June — 15 July 2023

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND / AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS / AGILITYPR.NEWS / June 06, 2023 / andriesse eyck is proud to present Many Names, a solo exhibition of recent drawings, paintings, and embroideries by Jakup Ferri.

Standing in a laboratory surrounded by a clutter of test tubes, bottles, pipes and glowing liquids, a man peers intently through a microscope. As yet unnamed, he is one of the protagonists in Jakup Ferri’s ever-expanding universe where everyday scenes and extraordinary situations take centre stage. With Many Names, his fifth exhibition at the gallery, Jakup Ferri’s universe continues to grow.

Ferri’s fine line drawings recall the ‘simplicity’ found in folk and so-called outsider art. Both have deeply influenced his work ever since he left his hometown of Pristina (Kosovo) to study at Amsterdam’s Rijksakademie. Paradoxically, once Ferri became a part of a Western art world, he started looking for inspiration elsewhere, specifically in paintings and textiles made by outsider and folk artists with no formal training. He found beauty in their humorous, fantastical approach and admired the inventive ways in which they responded to the politically charged world around them. Yet, the artist claims how he creates purely visual art, without any hidden meaning.

Returning to the drawing of the laboratory, Untitled (2023), it becomes evident that the artist’s true inspiration comes from outlandish micro-organisms (fungi, viruses, bacteria) as seen through an electron microscope. With each fresh glance, a new micro-universe appears, often with other-worldly characters transforming on the outlines of the microorganisms. The unnamed man in the laboratory is a frequent protagonist in Jakup Ferri’s own micro-universes, where he drives, juggles, eats, plays instruments, or engages in other mundane activities. Sometimes a woman and a child also appear – a reference to Ferri’s personal life – or surreal, imaginary creatures, part human, part animal. Ferri’s artistic creations joyfully co-exist in a utopia bursting with colour and pictorial wit.

Jakup Ferri expresses himself through drawing. His meticulously detailed drawings are the place where he does his thinking. His work could, quite literally, be given Many Names. Hence viewers are often given the freedom to name the work themselves. Unrestricted by one medium, Ferri transforms his ideas into different materials. Drawings are translated into tapestries, carpets, or embroideries, which are often made in collaboration with craftspeople from outside the Western art world; people who thus far have remained anonymous or ‘invisible’ to that world. As such, Many Names also refers to the cooperative aspect of Ferri’s work.

About Network of Arts

We are an internationally active art agency for contemporary art. Our team discovers new artists, coaches and promotes them, brings them into galleries and manages their entire careers. We work closely with galleries, collections and institutions. We act as Jakup Ferri's management.