courtesy, Samuel Laurence Cunnane
Hannah Fitz works primarily with sculpture, making inexact versions of figures, furniture and familiar objects. Made in series and painted in a faded, near-monochromatic spectrum, their work reflects back a departicularised version of the world in which actions are disjointed, light and shadow have form, and gravity seems less in control. Their sculptures are carefully constructed, but reject sleekness for a finish that is deliberately crude and scrappy, articulated by curling lines and uncertain wobbles. Human figures become uniform and featureless everymen, like the figurines on top of trophies, while clothing and household objects seem animated, teetering towards one another as if in communication, inhabiting a shared universe that omits us. There is a playfulness to their work, but also a sense of unease: these ambiguous sculptural forms appear suspended in time, acting more like images than objects.
Hannah Fitz lives and works in Berlin.
Hannah Fitz
Fisherman a half second later, 2022
plaster, paper mache clay, wire
45 x 17 x 42 cm / 17.7 x 6.7 x 16.5 in
Hannah Fitz
tired cowboy, 2022
plaster, paper mache clay, rope
25.5 x 22.5 x 13 cm / 10 x 8.9 x 5.1 in
Hannah Fitz
Pinocchio’s Bitter End (Lying Knows What Eye Nose Knot), 2022
wood, paint, graphite, paper clay
64 x 157 x 57 cm / 25.2 x 61.8 x 22.4 in
Hannah Fitz
Pinocchio’s Bitter End (Rest in Glory, Whole Again), 2022
wood, paint, graphite
205.5 x 97 x 175 cm / 80.9 x 38.2 x 68.9 in
Hannah Fitz
Pinocchio’s Bitter End (Snuffed Out!)
2022
wood, paint, graphite
98 x 107.5 x 72.5 cm / 38.6 x 42.3 x 28.5 in
Hannah Fitz
Welcome (Electric Fence), 2022
steel, wiring, lampshades, bulbs
185.5 x 181.5 x 26 cm / 73 x 71.5 x 10.2 in
Hannah Fitz
Journey's End (Electric Fence), 2022
steel, wiring, lampshades, bulbs
184 x 163 x 26 cm / 72.4 x 64.2 x 10.2 in
Hannah Fitz
Desire Lines (Electric Fence), 2022
steel, wiring, lampshades, bulbs
184 x 216 x 25 cm / 72.4 x 85 x 9.8 in
Hannah Fitz
Cats II, 2021
wire, card, tape, plaster bandage, pigmented jesmonite
18 x 74 x 43 cm / 7.1 x 29.1 x 16.9 in
Hannah Fitz
Cats VI, 2021
wire, card, tape, plaster bandage, pigmented jesmonite
94 x 21 x 50 cm / 37 x 8.3 x 19.7 in
Hannah Fitz
Cats IV, 2021
wire, card, tape, plaster bandage, pigmented jesmonite
56 x 51 x 32 cm / 22 x 20.1 x 12.6 in
Hannah Fitz
ALL HAIL, 2019
steel, card, plaster, fibreglass, resin, paint, football
142 x 151 x 92 cm / 55.9 x 59.4 x 36.2 in
Hannah Fitz
LIAR LIAR, 2019
steel, card, plaster, fibreglass, resin, paint, pleather, glass bottles, t-shirt
66 x 70 x 141 cm / 26 x 27.6 x 55.5 in
Collection of Office of Public Works, Ireland
Hannah Fitz
HERO, 2019
steel, card, plaster, fibreglass, resin, paint, pleather, sneakers
136 x 78 x 65 cm / 53.5 x 30.7 x 25.6 in
Hannah Fitz
Vase, 2017
wood, foam, Plastiform and acrylic resin
55 x 20 x 10 cm / 21.7 x 7.9 x 3.9 in
Hannah Fitz
Man, 2017
chicken wire, Papier-mâché, joint compound, expanding foam, surface: acrylic paint and resin mix
96 x 136 x 122 cm / 37.8 x 53.5 x 48 in
Hannah Fitz
Mirror, 2017
wood, foam, plastiform, and epoxy resin
152 x 20 x 50 cm / 59.8 x 7.9 x 19.7 in
Cats, installation at Spoiler, Berlin, 2021
Fitz has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Douglas Hyde Gallery’s Gallery Three and Kerlin Gallery in Dublin; and L21 Gallery in Mallorca. Forthcoming exhibitions include Kunstverein Göttingen, Germany (solo, April 2023) and The Complex, Dublin (group, August 2023). Recent group exhibitions include Elvira, Frankfurt; Spoiler, Berlin (both 2021); Portikus, Frankfurt (2020); Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda; Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (both 2019); 12 Star Gallery, London (2017). Fitz is a recipient of the International Studio & Curatorial Program, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
Hannah Fitz
HUMAN DRAMA, 2021
Spoiler, Berlin, Germany
Hannah Fitz
L’Esprit, graduation exhibition of Städelschule – Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, 2020
Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany
Hannah Fitz
Knock Knock, 2018
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Hannah Fitz
Bored with a hole, two-person exhibition with Daniel Tuomey, 2016
NCAD Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Hannah Fitz
In the Light of the Lamp, 2016
Gallery Three, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Hannah Fitz's exhibition at Kerlin Gallery has been reviewed by Frank Wasser for Frieze Magazine.
