Press Release
It is a pleasure to invite you to the opening of Thorbjørn
Andersen’s solo show in the gallery Friday January 18th from 5-8 pm.
The exhibition period is January 19th - March 1st.
Entitled ”Mørk Formalisme” (Dark Formalism), the show presents new
paintings on wood and glass. The paintings are abstract, geometrical,
dense and transparent at the same time. The colours are dark. A few
glowing colours form a contrast to the background where the tree rings
are visible through the layers of acylic paint. In the emphasis on
surface and form, the expression moves from the painterly to the
sculptural. An installation runs as diagonal through the space and
along the walls. In all its simplicity, it makes the viewer conscious
of him/herself and of the space itself as an extra and existential
dimension. The installation also functions as the paintings’ extended
frame.
The exhibition investigates both the relationship between space and
form, and geometry in itself – geometry which to Plato was sacred,
visionary, mysterious, sublime. A cosmic space of generic forms,
blending the rational with the irrational. In general, these works are
related to Modernism and in particular to the German art’s hermetic and
alchemical tradition: the antroposophy of Rudolf Steiner, Kurt
Schwitters’ Merzbau, Emma Kunz and Joseph Beuys.
The view of cosmos through geometry is very visible in Thorbjørn
Andersen’s paintings on glass in found old window frames: A reference
to the sacral mosaics of Christian and Islamic culture. Because of the
frames’ old nature and the more contemporary painting, the pieces’ age
is hard to determine. Time is an important factor in the show where the
ambiguity of the window pieces is repeated in the emphasis of the tree
rings in the paintings. Accentuating the space the installation
functions as a here-and-now experience opposite the abstract work’s
ability to transcend time and space.
One last piece in the show is an abstract painting on star shaped
glass, lying on the floor. Being a geometrical form and a cosmic
phenomenon, the hexagonal has many diverse meanings in various cultures
and contexts. In Islamic culture, it symbolizes organic life. A meaning
which is reflected in the small found objects on this star’s surface.
The objects are painted bones, washed up on the shores of the river
Thames.
Thorbjørn Andersen (b. 1977, lives and works in London and Copenhagen)
has graduated from Slade School of Fine Arts in 2006 and from The Royal
Danish Art Academy in 2007. In 2007 he was a co-curator of the
exhibition Match Race in Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Denmark.
