shut up and listen! 2024
Permanent presentations @echoraum, October 10–12, 2024
Belma Bešlić-Gál
LAM ARABI. An Introduction to the Universe of Franjo Friedl – Ausstellung
Opening: October 10, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
LAM ARABI. An Introduction to the Universe of Franjo Friedl (1928-2006)
In one of those days when you just can’t find the motivation for any kind of productive activity and instead sink into the endless expanse of the internet, I came across the work of a completely unknown artist on a Croatian internet platform. The painting showed an apparently abandoned and disoriented naked child on the moon, surrounded by threatening nuclear missiles, embedded in the gloomy darkness of space, while a solar eclipse dramatically dominated the entire scene. Beneath this captivating image was the enigmatic question: “Daddy, where are you?”
My initial interest in this picture resulted in quite some research that introduced me to the world of an enigmatic artist. Franjo Friedl, a social outcast who received hardly any recognition during his lifetime and was completely ignored after his death, created a peculiar and self-contained universe over decades, based on his alleged profound encounters with an extraterrestrial entity called “Gini”. The exhibition “LAM ARABI. An Introduction to the Universe of Franjo Friedl” offers the first-ever introduction to the artistic work and philosophy of Franjo Friedl.
[Belma Bešlić-Gál, February 2024]
Franjo Friedl
He is the son of farming parents. He was born in Bjelovar on June 18, 1928. He attended a school for applied arts in Zagreb, but dropped out because of illness. He completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Before his studies, he worked as a teacher of visual and technical education at an elementary school. During that time, he wrote the manual “School Workshop”, which was published by “Školska knjiga” in Zagreb to assist teachers in technical education. Both before and after his studies, he engaged in painting, ceramics and the design of everyday objects. He exhibited his works both at home and abroad. He is a member of the Association of Croatian Artists. After a long period of observation, he was contacted by aliens, a development that Franjo noticed but was unable to properly classify for a long time. It was only when the extraterrestrials known as the Ginis began working openly with him on an ideographic language and writing in 1956, preparing him to transmit their messages to humanity, that he became aware of his cosmic connection. He has described his encounters with the Ginis and their teachings in several books. The book you are currently reading is one of them.
The Observer
[Franjo Friedl about himself, in Franjo Friedl: Slikanje na staklu, 1997]
Belma Bešlić-Gál
Born in 1978 in Tuzla [Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia]. Composer, pianist, curator and artist, lives in Vienna. Her musical oeuvre includes music theater, orchestral and chamber music works, with cross-references to installation art, media art and literature. Education: piano studies at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, studies in composition and music theory at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Since 2011 co-curator of the Transdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art shut up and listen! in Vienna.