“Physiologus - The Open Eyes of the Death Lion”
by Habima Fuchs

Opening party with the artist:
Saturday October 29th, 5-8 pm
Exhibition dates:
October 29th – December 17th 2011

Ten Haaf Projects is pleased to announce: “Physiologus - The Open Eyes of the Death Lion”, a solo show by Habima Fuchs. Made up of ceramic sculptures and ink drawings depicting fabulous creatures and sceneries, the exhibition presents a dreamlike, visionary atmosphere laden with symbols associated with life, particularly its physical and spiritual journey.

A traveler who has recently undertaken the historic pilgrimage through Spain to Compostela, Habima Fuchs creates artwork reminiscent of a didactic text dating back to Europe’s Migration period. Rich with descriptions, moral tales and magnificent illustrations of animals, plants, and other natural curiosities, Physiologus manuscripts played a large role in the symbolism associated with animals in Europe and, consequently, greatly influenced medieval ecclesiastical art.

Often appearing as the first beast described in bestiaries, books of beasts based on Physiologus, and regarded as the king of beasts, the lion has three main natures, one of which pertains to the way in which it sleeps: always with its eyes open. In the work of Habima Fuchs, the king of beasts appears in the red-ink drawn “Death Lion” along with three ceramic pieces, which apart from “Daimonion: Burden”, the open-eyed death lion, are depicted with closed eyes and four new eyes on their bodies with which to see. Part of their journey, death leads the lions to be reborn into a new life; a new consciousness.



Download Press Documentation

Born Astrid Sourkova in 1977 in Ostrov, a town located in the Carlsbad Region of what was then Czechoslovakia, Habima Fuchs has exhibited in galleries and museums throughout Europe as well as in the U.S.A.