In the exhibition Fatebe Shadows, the artist Ebecho Muslimova works with characters, symbols, and spaces. In focus are questions concerning the human subconscious, our ideas about ourselves, and the unexplored aspects of our mind.
The main themes in Muslimova’s exhibition include:
The subconscious
The archetype of the ‘Trickster’, here a disruptive, boundary-crossing character named Fatebe
The creative potential of the hidden part of our minds
This is a brief introduction to the exhibition. If you want to read more, feel free to pick up the exhibition document at the reception desk.
Fatebe Shadows is the first solo exhibition in Scandinavia by the artist Ebecho Muslimova. The exhibition features her provocative character ‘Fatebe’, and includes new paintings created by the artist for Kunsthall Stavanger.
Muslimova is fascinated by the archetype of the Trickster. The Trickster is a mythological character who crosses boundaries, disrupts norms, and through disorder destroys our fixed notions of order and identity. In this exhibition, the Trickster takes the form of a cartoon-like character named Fatebe.
At Kunsthall Stavanger, Fatebe interacts with shadowy interior spaces, including several of the Kunsthall’s own galleries. These spaces can also be metaphors for the dark or hidden part of the human psyche. Each painting and drawing depicts a fleeting moment in the life of Fatebe,, where she acts out rituals, dramas, and sometimes even multiplies herself. In the exhibition, Fatebe is both dark and creative – challenging the rigid rules of our conscious minds. The representations of Fatebe in these works display the messy, chaotic energies that underlie creativity and life itself.
Muslimova follows these ideas in her creative process. She starts each work by setting certain boundaries, often architectural, and then lets the character Fatebe interact with them. This method is intuitive and invites unexpected connections.
Symbols and objects in the work set an emotional tone as well as compositional flow. Objects like swinging pocket watches, moonlit lakes, and flower-shaped throwing stars work together to create an overall feeling rather than send a specific message. In these works, there is a tension between movement and stillness, as well as a psychological tension between playfulness and trauma.
As viewers move through the exhibition, they encounter Fatebe’s changing presence, sometimes playful, sometimes unsettling, always complex. Fatebe Shadows at Kunsthall Stavanger is an invitation to venture into the in-between spaces where creativity and darkness meet, and to reconsider the boundaries that define our own stories.
Muslimova received her BFA at Cooper Union in New York, NY in 2010. She has presented solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains, New York, NY; The Drawing Center, New York, NY; David Zwirner Gallery, London, UK; Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zürich, CH; White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO and Room East, New York, NY. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Basel, CH; ICA Miami, FL; Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL; Zuzeum, Riga, LV; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; Swiss Institute, New York, NY; Kunsthalle St. Gallen, CH. Her large-scale murals have been commissioned for biennials such as The Dreamers, 58th Edition of October Salon, Belgrade, RS and The 32nd Biennale of Graphic Arts: Birth As Criterion, Ljubljana, SI.
Curators: Hanne Mugaas and Heather Jones
Exhibition text: Heather Jones
Exhibition technician: Matt Bryans
The exhibition has received generous support from Kulturrådet, Fritt Ord, and Bergesenstiftelsen, with additional support from Alexander DiPersia and Magenta Plains, New York.