For their first show in Tel Aviv, FAILE unveils Strong Currents, a new suite of paintings and works on paper. As the title suggests, the work investigates forces that may not be visible, but are powerful nonetheless. In many ways, these undercurrents refer to FAILE’s ongoing technical process, of attending to and riffing on the many layers of their compositions— including abstract color fields, which have long grounded their iconic imagery but shine through here with particular intensity.
At the same time, FAILE’s work seeks to explore the contradictions and hidden meanings within larger social landscapes. Under the surfaces of their playful and desirous city streets, darker forces lurk—be they systems of power and domination, the uncanny registers of youth, or literal monstrosities. Strong Currents finds FAILE meditating on hidden worlds, drawing their signature juxtaposition of high and low, sacred and sinister to new realms.
