Jan Christensen
Stranger Love
Opening reception: November 19, 19-21 pm
Exhibition duration: November 19 – December 17, 2015
Jan Christensen (born 1977) has exhibited with Gerhardsen Gerner since 2002. It is with great pleasure that we announce our eighth solo exhibition with the artist. Over the course of these years he has proved a diverse art practice that ranges from large-scale wallpaintings, sculptures, installations and even sonic endeavors, seemingly in a mode of experimentation beyond the field of art in general. His practice represents an interest in a range of references, whether it is art, design, architecture or music. He responds not only to art discourse, but also to the broader field of media, culture, communication and deeply considers many different aspects of producing art today. The versatility of his practice has also led Christensen to various activities beyond the gallery spaces and museums. Thus, alongside his exhibitions, he has also curated projects and realized a number of artworks in the public sphere.
For the exhibition in Berlin, Jan Christensen re-visits previous projects that considered the sonic experience, audiovisual expressions and references to music. Some of these works were the series of wall paintings called 'Optical Sound' (2000-2004), installations such as 'Good Times Make You Think that You are the Lucky One' (2006), 'Onomatopoeia' and the 'LEAP- and Seoul sessions' respectively (2011-2013). But whereas some of these works were conceived as grand, gestural compositions of psychedelic-like paintings, light- and video work, audio and collaborations that included sound modulators, customized synthesizers and other instruments, Christensen now again directs his interest to the traditional flat surface.
Considering
the framework and these references, his new work pulls from graphic
design and visual art alike. Grids of posters are composed on the
flat surfaces of canvases and gallery walls. These gritty,
desaturated
images depict fragments of record cover art. The casual, grid-based
composistions of the
posters
are repeated in the collections of images; these are images within
images. The sheer amount of
covers
and records represent snippets of titles, bands and artists, some
more obscure than others. The
artist
carefully edits this collection of images at every stage of
preparation and assembly, and adds elements contributing to his own
graphic aesthetics.
The very personal selection and
arrangement of references hints to the contemporary culture of
idiosyncrasy, by way of collage and chaos. You could also consider
the contrarian strategies involved in any form of unique artistic
expression and the inherent dialogue with contemporary discourse and
history. An artist is a person who progressively searches for new
ideas, challenging stereotypical ideas. Yet, such a specialized form
of expression is a lonely process of work, often a sort of short
circuited debate, resulting in the artist returning to the same
starting point before making another attempt at grasping the moment
of inspiration.
Jan Christensen, born in Copenhagen, lives and works in Berlin and Oslo. His work has been acquired by institutions such as the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo and the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo. Many of his large-scale projects can be found in private collections, corporate enterprises and public collections. His next forthcoming group-exhibition is 'Fragmentert Helhet', curated by Sandra Lorentzen, opens in January 2016 at Bærum Kunsthall, Fornebu (Norway).
Jan Christensen also works as an advisor to the committee on acquisitions of public art for KORO (Public Art Norway). He is a member of the advisory board committee at Tromsø Kunstforening, the editorial board of the Norwegian publication Billedkunst, a deputy board member at Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, and a board member of the Oslo-based art production facility, Fellesverkstedet.
Gerhardsen Gerner, Berlin