Galleri Nicolai Wallner is pleased to present Vanishing Point, a solo exhibition of new works by artist group A Kassen.

Artist group A Kassen’s practice is first and foremost an 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.

The exhibition features seven works in their latest series, Bronze Paintings. The series builds on their explorations of what constitutes an object, and an understanding of materiality as seen through the lens of art history. Eschewing the traditional form or mould, liquid bronze is poured directly onto a flat surface composed of soil. Allowed to flow naturally, the material spreads, layers and swirls to create an unexpected surface and form. Left to patina, the addition of colour accentuates these patterns.

The inherent abstract nature of the works, along with the series title, could be seen as a reference to the heyday of action painting in the 1950s and early 1960s. The surface and tactile nature of the work reveals its process to us, and in so doing turns our attention towards the act of creating the work.

Historically, bronze has been a material that has been reused. Statues were melted down to produce more practical items in times of need, or melted down to create new statues which reflected a shift in social and political movements. The fluidity of the material speaks to its ability for it to become what we need it to be. With the Bronze Paintings series, A Kassen give the material a newfound sense of permanency and of importance.

Unbound without the constraint of a form, the material is given the space and the authority over its own form.

Collaborating since 2004, A Kassen is composed of four Danish artists (Christian Bretton-Meyers, Morten Steen Hebsgaard, Søren Petersen, Tommy Petersen). The group has exhibited extensively, including recent solo shows at the National Gallery of Iceland (Reykjavik), and Den Frie (Copenhagen), Sorø Kunstmuseum (Sorø) and KØS (Køge). They have also shown at ARoS (Aarhus), ARTIPELAG (Gustavsberg), Copenhagen Contemporary (Copenhagen), UMOCA (Salt Lake City), and the Museum of Mexico City (Mexico City) among many others. They participated in the 2009 Momentum Nordic Biennial for Contemporary Art. In 2013 they were awarded the third prize of the Carnegie Art Award 2014. In 2016, they had a series of three sculptures placed permanently in the park of Kistefos Museum (Jevnaker). In 2017 they unveiled permanent projects in the cities of Aarhus (Denmark) and Lund (Sweden).