all images: Sergej Jensen, Fred-Thieler-Preis für Malerei 2013 at Berlinische Galerie, photos by artfridge
As a part of the Fred-Thieler-Preis für Malerei, Berlinische Galerie currently exhibits several paintings and an installation by the 1973-born danish artist Sergej Jensen. Selected by a high class jury, the prize is awarded every second year to an artist who reinvents painting in a new form. What sounds like an almost impossible achievement, is the splendid result of Jensens ongoing effort to demolish the splendour of painting.
Large and small, curiously framed or pinned - the work of the Berlin-based artist lives on its own slow dissolution: Approaching canvases in an unconventionally destructive manner, Jensen adds fractures and holes. He stretches canvases, grounds them, un-stretches and finally re-stretches them again with a little shift to one side - so that the motif is only displaced by a couple of centimeters. Thick layers of paint and dust are applied on the raw canvas: The small work "Burger" carries a dark sludge of brownish and yellowish colours in a corner; in his work "Why? Criminality" a large and brown trace stains the middle of the minimalist composition. Setting the judgement aside, of whether this actually is a 'criminal' act of destruction, or whether the raw beauty of the canvas lies exactly in its imperfection, Jensen clearly shows a sense of humor.
He focuses on the canvas and its multiple ways of representation. This also includes other sorts of fabrics, as the vintage moneybags or the oversized hand-knitted scarf, which dangles from the ceiling and adorns the left side of the untitled painting with the two horse feet. For this comical painting, Jensen used an almost untouched larger framed canvas that he placed underneath, as if it was a passepartout. Not only here, but also in many of his other works, the raw simplicity of the canvas' surface is paired with a content-related absurdity, leading to an odd agreement between the two.
While the horse's legs linger on pink smudges, the other side of the room shows two white doors, which are each placed on top of a pair of shoes. And as it feels for most pieces in this exhibition, it is unspectacular and appears without any splendour. Instead, it offers a beautiful solidness and a return to the raw essentials.
SERGEJ JENSEN
FRED-THIELER-PREIS FÜR MALEREI 201318.03.–17.06.2013
Alte Jakobstraße 124-128
10969 Berlin
Opening Hours: Wed-Mon, 10-18h, Closed on Tuesdays
all images: Sergej Jensen, Fred-Thieler-Preis für Malerei 2013 at Berlinische Galerie, photos by artfridge