MELANCHOLIA FUTURA
Wolfgang Guenther, Runa Ikeda, Marianna Ignataki, Dimitra Liogka, Eva Maceková, Jessika Miekeley
curated by Saša Bogojev and Nicola E. Petek
Finissage
Sat 4 Oct 6 – 9pm
Exhibition Opening hours
6 Sep – 4 Oct 2025
Wed – Sat 2 – 6 pm
and by personal appointment
closed on German public holidays
Location
frontviews at HAUNT
Kluckstraße 23 A Yard
D – 10785 Berlin
Social Media
@frontviews_
@haunt_berlin
Public Transport
Bus Linie M48 or M85 from Potsdamer Platz/ Busstop
Lützowstr./Potsdamer Str. and a 4 minute walk // U-Bahn
Kurfürstenstraße Linie U1 and U3 and a 6 minute walk // M29 Busstop Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand and a 2 minute walk.
This project is profoundly supported by Senate Departement for Culture and Social Cohesion. It's also made possible with the generous support of the Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds, as well as the initiative of the whole collective.
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Entropy in thermodynamics, Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence, Heraclitus’ doctrine of flux, Jung’s theory of individuation, the Anicca doctrine in Buddhism, and Kafka’s novel The Metamorphosis all suggest that the world is in constant flux. From the inevitable decay of the material world to the psychological, spiritual, and societal transformations that shape human existence, humanity has long developed theories that observe, discuss, or explain this phenomenon. This ephemeral yet somehow cyclical nature of life, along with its accompanying experiences and conditions, is at the core of each distinctive practice of the artists featured in this multi-solo presentation.
In that sense, Jessika Miekeley’s artistic process is one of transformation itself—she begins with realism before subtracting, erasing, and reinterpreting her images. The mere act of creation-through-destruction captures the idea of shift as an unpredictable, often subconscious process in which life and death blur temporal and physical boundaries. Pushing things further towards unmediated, Runa Ikeda’s art is rooted in the subconscious, where hidden memories and unknown sensations are stored. As a spiritual and emotional process of uncovering one’s evolving essence, progression results from reaching beyond the limitations of the tangible world. Whether through themes of identity, bodily change, or the subconscious, these artists highlight the tension between the impermanence of the world and the subjective ways we experience and interpret it. For example, Dimitra Liogka centers her exploration of the female form on creating figures that feel caught between two realities—recognizable yet altered. This mutation bridges the familiar and the surreal, resulting in figures in a constant metamorphic dance between fragility and resilience. Similarly, Marianna Ignataki’s surreal, hybrid, witch-like figures and mask-wearing protagonists swap identities between self and other, dream and nightmare. While exploring the psychological change that comes with desire, fear, and hidden instincts, her work celebrates the grotesque beauty of constant flux. The tension of duality also permeates Wolfgang Guenther’s work, where knights and mythical creatures embody personal transformation and existential uncertainty. Their dual nature reflects humanity’s ongoing self-redefinition and adaptation, visually conveyed through his dynamic layering of paint. Similarly, Eva Maceková’s practice, which also embraces thick paint application, explores themes of natural and spiritual renewal within dark, immersive, myth-like worlds. Evoking a Kafkaesque sense of alienation, emotional and psychological isolation, and the dehumanizing effects of modern life, her environments paradoxically offer a sense of safety, reimagining darkness as a space for metamorphosis, regeneration, and reconciliation with nature.
Thinking about Democritus’s statement, “The world is decay, life is perception,” we recognize that everything from matter to human life undergoes continuous transformation, degradation, decay, and renewal. Everything in the universe is subject to time and change, and nothing in the physical world is or can be permanent. So, how we experience the world is subjective, based on sensory perceptions, and therefore not necessarily an accurate reflection of the objective world. By blending realism with surrealism and/or abstraction each of these artists use their work to represent the mutability of the human experience and the world around us, offering a unique perspectives within different physical, existential, or conceptual concepts. By exploring aspects of transformation, identity, and the complexity of human experience, their works become manifestations, physical imprints, and testaments to the brevity of moments and conditions. The brevity that can leave one nostalgic for what is yet to come (and destined to pass).
