Fotograf Zone – Phelim Hoey

La Machine (2018 – ongoing)

Autonomy and independence are considered important in our society, and are often a big part of one’s identity. In Phelim Hoey’s case, being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, it is no longer self-evident hat the body will carry out actions, sometimes not even the simplest. These experiences lead to alienation, fear and an instrumental vision towards the body. With the loss of the certainty of a functioning body, the identity is also compromised. Who the artist is, and how the disease influences his identity is something he explores in this project.

Incorporating a wide range of media – whether photography, film, ceramics or sculptural installation – Hoey’s work can be read as a form of conceptual storytelling. In fragile materials, or delicate still lifes depicting precariously-balanced objects, his works are wrought with a pronounced sense of vulnerability and tension. Small traces of annotated medical documents, obscured by fragmented sketching and images, recall clinical understandings of Hoey’s condition: a distant language that rarely captures the nuances of his own experience. Elsewhere, Hoey deploys quasi-scientific studies of motion – referencing photographic pioneers like Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey – underlining yet further the separation he observes between the physical body and his broader sense of ‘self’.

EXHIBITION
FEVER STATE
October 4–12, 2025
Holešovice Market, Hall 13

Phelim Hoey

is an Amsterdam-based visual artist who studied documentary photography at HKU, Utrecht. During his studies, he began to experience optical difficulties that led to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This condition has shaped his artistic practice, which he approaches as both a creative outlet and a means of reflecting on his changing relationship with his body. His work highlights vulnerability and resilience, positioning art as a form of healing and a way of tracing shifting perceptions of illness and identity.

#49 Talk Together

This issue explores language – its forms, possibilities, and limits. We look at how we communicate in the digital space, how the language of artificial intelligence changes our notions of creativity, and how visual images can replace words. You will discover why language is never neutral and how it shapes identity, creates inequalities, and opens paths to liberation. The issue features a reflection by bell hooks, the artistic practice of Eszter Magyar, projects documenting the Roma community in Brno, and visual essays by Claudia Larcher and Tabor Robak. The magazine presents language as a tool of communication, power, and resistance and invites you to reflect on what it truly means to talk to one another today.