JAN CHRISTENSEN
Shapeshifters
Opening 19th January 2019, 4PM
19.01.19 – 02.03.19
Jan Christensen (Copenhagen, DK, 1977) is a Norwegian artist who lives and works in Oslo, Norway and Berlin, Germany. He studied at the National College of Art and Design/KHIO in Oslo (1997-2000) and has exhibited internationally since the very beginning of his career. He has curated exhibitions regularly and he has also been prolific in the field of public art, as well as lecturing on contemporary art. This is his first solo exhibition in Portugal.
The exhibition features a number of wooden sculptures along with canvases and a bronze sculpture on the floor in one of the gallery spaces. This last sculpture is a constellation of letters that make out the statement, “Smooth Seas Don’t Make a Good Sailor”.
The wooden sculptures are mounted in the ceiling, hovering gently above ground with a single string only, thus slowly spinning as they correspond to any...drafts and the movement of the audience. The intricate structures are made out of plywood sheets which have been milled in order to define their shapes before careful assembly of the complete sculpture. Some of the sculptures are painted, either completely or along the milled edge, while the larger constellations remain lacquered with transparent varnish.
There has been a constant process of visual articulation, as the artist has assembled the sculputres and worked on these canvases, all made specifically for the exhibition at Galeria Presença in Porto.
Referring to the title, literally, the sculptures can be described as objects that keep avoiding that single, specific point of view. The constructions are so complex, yet so dynamic, that they provide concurrent visual information.
The geometric principles of the sculptures are partly reflected in the compositions of the painted canvases. The principles of a painted canvas requires a more cerebral consideration regarding the dynamics in play and the title of the exhibition, as they rather reflect the process of layers of various applications on a different level. These paintings are colorful multi-layered abstract paintings, combining fleeting brushwork, splashed surfaces and hard-edge geometry. Technically, these canvases have seen multiple rounds of applying paint, spray paint, sanding and further painting as part of the ongoing artistic considerations.
Smooth Seas Don’t Make a Good Sailor (2014) consists of black bronze elements, shaped like letters that look like they are floating around in the ocean. The work is spread out across the floor as it is adjusted to the very specific space of installation. Together with the several new works on display, this work describes the range of artistic interests and abilities of this artist, from the poetic implications of this work, including various means of technical manufacturing such as foundry work, computer aided tools and CNC-milling to the art historical complexities of painting from Modern Art to the contemporary art discourse.
Entrada actualizada el el 16 ene de 2019
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