Drabek Daniel

Daniel Drabek (1998) is a Swiss-Italian artist based in Switzerland. After completing his apprenticeship as a graphic designer, he began his Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the Zurich University of the Arts. Drabek experimented in various media such as text, music, design and the visual arts in his studies.

His interdisciplinary work is strongly oriented towards the aesthetics and language of various artefacts of contemporary culture. After going through Drabek's creative process, which is influenced by grotesque and youthful humour, hyper-violent depictions emerge, which are intended to highlight and get to the heart of the artefact's inherent message. Usually with the aim of honestly reflecting the sometimes uncomfortable reality.

As Drabek's example at Bad Ragartz shows, this results in easily understandable, brutal but also highly emotionalised metaphors. The metal sculpture «My heart», for example, simultaneously embodies the fragility and strength of the heart: it remains «whole» even though it is literally covered in injuries. His subjects are not necessarily autobiographical in nature. 

Quote 

«The usage of aggressive vocabulary serves as a tool for me to confront vulnerable and intimate topics such as loneliness, alienation, fear, coping mechanisms, sexuality, self-image, and the influence exerted by media and societal expectations.»