Johan Furåker

Elena Tzotzi wrote the following introduction to the project "The Culture of Fear" in her essay "Three eagles": "Three eagles, three emblems, three nation-states – thus begins the puzzle-like tale that is played out in Johan Furåker’s exhibition The Culture of Fear. Three key paintings, which we see first, depict three symbols of state, permitting the striking resemblances between them to be revealed. This story has its beginnings in the first eagle, which was part of the emblem of the Roman Empire bearing the inscription SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanus (The Senate and the People of Rome). The second eagle with a wreath and swastika in its talons serves as Nazi Germany’s national coat of arms 1933-1945. The third eagle, a version of the seal of the USA, holds arrows in its left talon and an olive branch in the right, symbolizing war and peace. What is subsequently played out in the exhibition is a tour through the dark forces that form part of the logic of war and of the aesthetic of power."