PLEASE ME..., 2005, Glas geblasen/gefused, zweiteilig, Schnur, ca. 120 x 32 cm

We are proud to announce that the works of Jos Näpflin will all be shown for the first time at the present exhibition. Despite their various different artistic media they all have one thing in common: They inspire the imagination of the spectator in an unshirkable way. The "other room" or the quest of the "beyond" leads the artist within his creative process. Hence he chooses the media which transport his idea in the best possible manner.

LEAVE ME..., 2005, Glas geblasen/gefused, zweiteilig, Schnur, ca. 32 x 120 cm

ROOM 94%, 2005, Holz, Metall, Farbe, Kartonbox bemalt, Transistorradio, Elektronik, Türe: 195 x 85 x 4 cm / Installation: Grösse variabel

The installation ROOM 94% for example shows a door with glistening light shining through underneath it. Next to the door, which is attached to one of the walls of the gallery room, sits a box on the floor. Both the door and the box don’t really seem to match with what they pretend to be at first glance. So the door is just a little bit smaller than a normal one, as referred to in the work title (ROOM 94%). And the box shows a kind of unnatural hyper-materiality - it almost seems to be a three dimensional copy of itself. It quasi became a symbol for itself. But what fires one’s imagination the most about ROOM 94% are the open questions: What might be behind that door and what is in the box? The door with the light shining through underneath it reminds on a transcendental passage or channel. One imagines a possible "beyond", like a secret room. One gets surprised from time to time by the not directly definable sounds, which emerge out of the box.

Basement, 2005, 23', Video-Installation, Rückprojektion, DVD-MPEG 2, Ton, endlos loop, Holzobjekt, bemalt H 60 x B 67 x T 26 cm, Installation: Grösse variabel, Auflage: Ed of 3 + 1 AP

Our perception appears as something very fragile in Näpflin's work and we can’t avoid questioning it. The play with perception and reality reaches its peak in the video installation Basement. The spectator sees through a basement window and perceives a pavement with pedestrians passing by. In the background is a panoramic view on a lake. In a very subtle manner the perspective of the view of the video disarranges again and again. From time to time there are clouds gliding through the picture and layer the activities on the pavement with a foggy veil. All of a sudden there appears a warship out of the dense foggy clouds, which passes by on the lake in the background – the ship appears and disappears, but doesn’t fulfill any law of nature thereby. The time space continuum crumbles and breaks up the materiality of things…
Looking at Näpflin's work leads us to the immaterial field of our fantasy.

1950 born in Wolfenschiessen, Kanton Nidwalden, lives and works in Zurich.

Isabel Reiss, November 05

Zeichnung8, 2004, Klebefolie ausgeschnitten, CD, Zertifikat, Installation: Grösse variabel, Unikat / 1 AP