Peter Friedl

Untitled (Kill and Go) (2000) / Failed States (2011)

Failed States, courtesy of the artist and KOW, Berlin

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Untitled (Kill and Go) (2000)

Peter Friedl has not lived in his native country of Austria for a very long time. The last time he tried was in 1994–95. In this period, four Roma living in the town of Oberwart were brutally murdered by a bomb attack. Friedl reacted with an intervention in Austria’s national colors reading “Kill and Go,” displayed on billboards on Vienna’s Europaplatz. Here in the exhibition, it comments on one of the country’s deepest failures: deep-rooted xenophobia and apathy toward its tragic consequences.

Failed States (2011)

In the big picture, all states face the prospect of failure. But in today’s world, there exists a Fragile (formerly Failed) States Index that measures risks related to social, economic, and political-military factors. Published by experts, it usually only includes countries from Africa and the Middle East. With his Failed States, Peter Friedl draws up a new list, adding numerous European countries as well as the United States. Friedl thus shows just how arbitrary the label of a failed state is in its present form.

The flags—some of them of well-known states, others of ones with limited or no recognition, such as Catalonia or Palestine—were sewn following the artist’s instructions by (former) inmates of a prison in Turin’s Vallette neighborhood in collaboration with the Papily cooperative. This involved women with fifteen different nationalities, adding another level of meaning to the work.

Peter Friedl (1960, Oberneukirchen, Austria) is a Conceptual artist who questions representation, history, and power, developing new narratives for our historical and political awareness. Friedl has participated in three Documentas (1997, 2007, 2017) and represented Austria at the 48th Venice Biennale (1999). Recent solo exhibitions include: KOW, Berlin (2022); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2021); Guido Costa Projects, Turin (2020); Nicolas Krupp, Basel (2020); Carré d’Art, Nîmes (2019); and Kunsthalle Wien (2019). He lives in Berlin.

Untitled (Kill and Go) (2000)
Aluminum, adhesive film, neon, plexiglass, 100 × 220 × 20 cm
Collection Ralph Schilcher, Graz

Failed States (2011)
Fabric, nylon, embroidery, 360 × 750 cm
Courtesy of the artist and KOW, Berlin