Poetry of the Incredible

Description

The works published in this volume by Jonas C. Haefeli, who calls himself a "quarterly painter", appear surrealistic at first glance, However, on closer inspection they rather reflect the spirit of Fantastic Realism. The roots of this style lie in German and Dutch Mannerism, in Art Nouveau, in New Objectivity, and also in Surrealism. Haefeli's paintings are characterized by - only supposedly realistic - fantasy spaces whose access must first be deciphered. Each painting is juxtaposed with a page of text with poetic, (pseudo-)scientific, ironically pointed, or also decidedly funny-absurd picture lines, quotations, newspaper clippings and miniature stories. In this way, the enigmatic works of art are explained, supplemented or even exaggerated caricature-style by yet another dimension. This entertaining, informative, or even confusing interaction is what makes this picture book so unique.

Jonas C. Haefeli, born in 1947 and raised in Zurich, has worked as a film and theatre composer since the 1970s in Germany and Switzerland after years in the music industry. In between, he has also worked as a sound engineer on documentary film productions in Afghanistan, Iran, Tanzania and Portugal.