Europa Carnivora

For his solo exhibition “Europa Carnivora” in Kiralık Depo, Berlin-based artist David Schiesser displays a series of subdued oil paintings on canvas. The paintings’ dimensions are defined by the cartographic shape of two countries — Germany and Türkiye. In a style evoking traditional European painting, chaotic narratives informed by contemporary news flow, fantasy, and history play out by way of humans energetically performing any number of actions: chopping, fishing, painting, queuing, telephoning, smoking, and so on. The subtle brushwork and combination of various styles, paired with the exhibition title convey a feeling between unease and sometimes a smile. Breaking the rhythm of these surreal narratives are two silkscreened prints of the maps of Germany and Türkiye overlayed with a palette. By drawing our attention to pictorial representations of both cartography and painting, Schiesser emphasizes a different type of categorical absurdity: a human obsession with flatness and rectangularity. The exhibition is accompanied by a poem written by Schiesser, providing additional layers of interpretation and insight. David Schiesser (b. 1989, Frankfurt) holds a degree in Fine Art from the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG), and has worked and lived in Berlin, since 2019. He creates narratives that are both conceptual and often humorously layered. His practice has a strong base in linear drawing and has expanded into various media, including tattoos, installations, video works, and recently shifted his focus toward painting. His work is regularly exhibited in diverse contexts, such as Spirale at JVDW Gallery (Düsseldorf, 2023), Drawing Wow 3 at Minus Eins (Vienna, 2022), Invasion der Geschuppten at DWDS (Bregenz, 2021), Might Go To Bern Later (Bern, 2021) and others.