Perpetual Dawn
Galleri Nicolai Wallner is pleased to present Perpetual Dawn, a group exhibition with works by A Kassen, Alexander Tovborg, Chris Johanson, Jakob Kolding, Jeppe Hein, Jose Dávila, Julie Lænkholm and Marie Lund.
The works in the exhibition are tied together through a shared interest in surface and materiality. Elements recede or come to the forefront, juxtaposed with one another. Images are removed or uncovered. References and knowledge are brought forward, introduced into the space.
Within this back and forth, the idea of dawn—the moment in which the sun breaks through twilight—becomes ever more relevant as a state defined by coexistence. It is perhaps not so much a sense of in-between or open-endedness, but rather a state where a final interpretation is suspended, where ideas and realities have equal weight and are present alongside each other, regardless of contradictions.
Alexander Tovborg (b. 1983, Denmark) takes as his starting point history, mythology, religion, as well as written and oral narratives, Tovborg draws on the stories that have come before us in order to explore and re-contextualise classical archetypes. In looking at the ways through which we have built our narratives in the past, he proposes a new reading of our current social and political situation, examining who we are and where we find ourselves today.
Alexander Tovborg
cæcilie trier gravid (2020)
Acrylic and bed linen on wooden panel
Ø 200 cm | Ø 78.8 in
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Artist group A Kassen (collaborating since 2004) are first and foremost interested in the exploration of the relationship between form and content. Beginning with an object or an element, such as an everyday object, a material such as bronze, or something more ephemeral like a puddle or a reflection, A Kassen task themselves with acts of construction and deconstruction, with reinterpretation and re-appropriation, against the backdrop of questioning our preconceived notions of what the phenomenon in question really is.
Marie Lund (b. 1976, Denmark) poetically exposes imprints and reactionary forces as she explores the place and moment of intersection where different objects meet the external world. Lund thoughtfully manipulates these elements, as the physical traces of her process are left visible for us to find in the forms she creates. Leading us down a path of new experiences and perceptions, she draws out the sublime from the ordinary. Lund’s works have a distinctly atmospheric quality about them, as if the dichotomies between form and content, internal and external, the body and the material, which are explored in her work can be felt throughout.
Marie Lund
Fit (2016)
Concrete
55x 80 x 5.5 cm | 21.7 x 31.5 x 2.3 in
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Contradictory feelings of weight, tension and levity run throughout the works of Jose Dávlia (b. 1974, Mexico). Making use of materials in a way that pushes the limits of our perception, he pairs incongruent elements that cause us to re-examine the ways in which we understand what is at hand. Unexpected elements are brought into our focus and the result is an elegant balancing act which feels almost atmospheric, drawing us in as we wait to see if things will stand or fall.
Jose Dávila
Topologies of Projection (2018)
Cutout, archival pigment print
202.5 x 215 x 8 cm | 79.8 x 84.7 x 3.3 in
Edition of 4 (+1 AP)
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Jeppe Hein
This Is Magic (2016)
Powder-coated aluminium, neon tubes, two-way mirror, powder-coated steel, transformers
100 x 100 x 10 cm | 39.3 x 39.3 x 3.9 in
Edition of 3 (+2 AP)
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Jakob Kolding (b. 1971, Denmark)’s practice is based in the fundamentals and history of collage. Using a variety of sources that range from the historical cannons of the visual arts, literature and the theatre, as well as pop, hip-hop, science-fiction, urban imagery and contemporary culture, Kolding has created his own visual vocabulary. The interwoven nature of themes such as identity, politics, presentation, the positioning of bodies, gestures and acting, are explored. Juxtaposed imagery and ideas come together as Kolding’s works create a space in which the possibility for new, unexpected connections.
Jakob Kolding
Power, Corruption and Lies (2017)
Collage on paper
24 x 17 cm | 9.4 x 6.7 in
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Julie Lænkholm (b. 1985, Denmark)’s practice has its roots in the ideas and the methods centred around collective learning. Exploring techniques and practices which have been traditionally been passed down orally from generation to generation, Lænkholm activates a predominantly female-driven history which has been forgotten or otherwise actively ignored. As such, she brings these narratives directly back into focus and places them within a contemporary discourse. Lænkholm’s works are often textile in nature. Using materials such as wool, silk and denim, she treats them with natural, plant-based dyes using historic methods, each of which hold a certain significance and intentionality.
Julie Lænkholm
Untitled (4) (2020)
Cotton, wool and yamato dye on silk
200 x 120 cm | 78.8 x 47.3 in
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Julie Lænkholm
Untitled (1) (2020)
Cotton, wool and yamato dye on silk
200 x 120 cm | 78.8 x 47.3 in
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Chris Johanson (b. 1968, USA) is known for a style of painting that depart from more academic approach, embracing instead the situations, emotions and people in his surroundings. Using painting as a tool to be able to understand and contextualising his own position within the world, this means of knowing is thus passed on to us, through the work, allowing us to see it through our own eyes and our own experiences. Direct, energy-filled and felt immediately in the space, Johanson’s works take on the realities of West Coast, urban living.
Chris Johanson
Untitled (Painting 8 of 12) (2019)
Acrylic on drop cloth
139 x 174 cm | 54.7 x 68.5 in
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