Meta Fingers

An installation by Beni Bischof 

June 2 – June 17, 2023

Beni Bischof is an artist whose works embody a blend of adaptation and irony, incorporating pre-existing texts, situations, and images with a keen focus on the nuances of everyday life. Often exploring subjects such as dime novels, fashion, magazines, advertisements, and the virtual realm, Bischof skillfully merges these elements to create intriguing compositions that border on the surreal.

Meta Fingers
In the intimate back room of the gallery, Bischof presents his captivating installation, Meta Fingers. This crafted space takes the form of a living room, providing the perfect backdrop for showcasing multiple works that revolve around his exploration of fingers. Through a series of photographs and collages, Bischof playfully reinterprets scenes and images by replacing features with fingers. His approach involves inserting his finger through existing images, resulting in ridiculing and amusing new compositions. In his own words:

“The first finger-work was created in an airplane. I always doodle with a felt-tip pen on the advertisements of airplane magazines. At that time, however, I didn't have a felt-tip pen with me. Then I stuck my finger through an advertisement and photographed it. The picture was quite good and it looked funny and stupid. I liked that. I was especially interested in the mask-like quality of the pictures. Playing with bodies and changing them. Similar to Francis Bacon in his paintings. Distortions. This idea runs through a lot of my work, no matter what the medium is. I also find the striking look of the photos and accessibility interesting. Because everyone has a finger. Even 10!”

The Meta Fingers installation shows a room filled with Bischof's creative vision, that offers an insightful commentary on the banality of everyday life. Through prints and visual compositions, Bischof invites viewers to ponder the mundanity of their own experiences while infusing the space with a distinct 90s nostalgia, drawing inspiration from his teenage years.

In addition to the Meta Fingers installation, Bischof is featured with his renowned cover for de Volkskrant Magazine on Dick Pics in The Originals exhibition. The original magazine edition, presented from the esteemed Coverjunkie magazine archive, serves as a juxtaposition to Bischof's artistic reinterpretation, inviting contemplation on the dynamics between the original source and the artist's unique perspective.

Beni Bischof
Beni Bischof, born in Switzerland in 1976, is a postwar and contemporary artist who has worked for numerous galleries and museums such as Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum. Furthermore he has sold in German Auctions and been featured in Mutual Artist’s press archive and the Swiss Art Awards 2021. He additionally publishes his own Magazine called Lazer Magazine in the form of a zine.