What form might a work of art take that seeks to convey something of this sense of alienation in the present? Art & Alienation brings together more or less recent works by 8 artists, most of whom live in Europe. Each artist presents extracts from what is often experimental and in-flux practice. These singular universes mask a shared idea: artistic practice is also always a critique of production. Artistic creation always already comes into being alienated in capital’s abstraction. The irresolvable contradictions on the social, creative and economic horizon of art only reach resolution in negation.
In the exhibition, the abrasive dimension of existence is inscribed in forms of deskilling, economic insecurity and détournement. False equivalences and errors of the mind haunt this exploration of a subject as old as the idea of modernity itself.
“The more labor is de-personalised and abstracted, the more it appears as creative and personalized.”
Benjamin Noys, The Persistence of the Negative: A Critique of Contemporary Continental Theory, Edinburgh University Press, 2010, p.165
Exhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgDelphine Mouly, Extended Play (Long Season Edit), 2025Delphine Mouly, Extended Play (Tunnel Tunnel Edit), 2023. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgDelphine Mouly, Extended Play (Tunnel Tunnel Edit), 2023. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMorag Keil, Client, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinMorag Keil, Client, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinMorag Keil, Client, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinMorag Keil, Client (detail), 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinInstallation view, Morag Keil, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinMorag Keil, Material III, 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinMorag Keil, Material III (detail), 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, BerlinJimmie Durham, Fribourg, 1993. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the Jimmie Durham Estate and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New YorkJimmie Durham, Fribourg, 1993. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the Jimmie Durham Estate and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New YorkJimmie Durham, Fribourg, 1993. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the Jimmie Durham Estate and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New YorkJimmie Durham, Fribourg, 1993. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the Jimmie Durham Estate and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New YorkExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgInstallation view, Mauro Cerqueira, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMauro Cerqueira, Casas num Beco Malcheiroso #6, 2019-2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMauro Cerqueira, Casas num Beco Malcheiroso #2, 2019-2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMauro Cerqueira, Casas num Beco Malcheiroso #3, 2019-2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMauro Cerqueira, Casas num Beco Malcheiroso #5, 2019-2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgInstallation view, Richard Sides, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and KIN, BrusselsInstallation view, Richard Sides, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and KIN, BrusselsInstallation view, Richard Sides, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and KIN, BrusselsInstallation view, Richard Sides, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and KIN, BrusselsInstallation view, Richard Sides, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and KIN, BrusselsExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgRichard Sides, If you never take it seriously you never get hurt, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Carlos/Ishikawa, LondonRichard Sides, If you never take it seriously you never get hurt, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Carlos/Ishikawa, LondonRichard Sides, National Association, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Carlos/Ishikawa, LondonExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgEthan Assouline, réalité (detail), 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgEthan Assouline, réalité (detail), 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgEthan Assouline, réalité (detail), 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgEthan Assouline, réalité (detail), 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgEthan Assouline, réalité (detail), 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgHannah Black, Politics (Red Display), 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Missa, LondonInstallation view, Hannah Black, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Missa, LondonHannah Black, Broken Windows, 2022. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Missa, LondonExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgExhibition view, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artists and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgInstallation view, Milena Langer, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgInstallation view, Milena Langer, Art & Alienation, Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg, 2025. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart FribourgMilena Langer, Liquidation (First Round), 2024. Photo: Guillaume Python. Courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg
Photos: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kunsthalle Friart Fribourg
