Pursuing his interest in the transient nature of the human condition, Fikl continues to investigate the solitude and the instability of the living space - at the ever-shifting intersection between the personal and the historical times. The new works bring into focus 'the best room' of the traditional peasant house, where, more often than not, nobody goes in; beautifully-decorated and immovable, it endures silently the flow of time. The artist introduces however a dramatic moment for each of these rooms, where they are faced with danger - be it the incongruent, the loss of order and memory or indeed death.
The interiors are rendered in minute and overwhelming detail, led by some sort of horror vacui - a continuation of the alert and feverish brushstrokes he experimented with in the 2017 The End of History series. The canvases have a chromatic trepidation which is alien to Fikl's staple repertoire; we discover layers of pink and purple and blades of fluorescent green, which seem to emerge from the neon tubes of some game arcade where nobody appears to be winning anymore, but where we can still feel the throbbing vitality of those who are never ready to give up. We discover once again - however not? - the iconic animals which populate Fikl's imaginary universe, the peacock, the deer and the sheep, but also the new-comers: hungry wolves and tall, lean cheetahs. A brand new world, brightly light, where the heart is beating fast. (Gabriela Massaci, curator)