Hetta praktfulla koparprentið verður partur av framsýningini Leave Me Breathless hjá Jóhan Martini Christiansen, sum letur upp í Danske Grafikeres Hus í Sølvgade Keypmannahavn fríggjadagin 18.august 17-20. Far og hygg!
Leave Me Breathless
a solo exhibition by Jóhan Martin Christiansen
Opening Friday August 18th, 2023, at 5-8pm
Danske Grafikeres Hus
Sølvgade 14, 1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Exhibition period: August 19th – September 10th, 2023
Opening hours: Thursday/Friday 1-5pm and Saturday/Sunday 11am-3pm
In the exhibition Leave Me Breathless a series of copper prints and plaster reliefs created specifically for Danske Grafikeres Hus is presented. The exhibition title has several meanings; the title has the air of both light-hearted yet melancholic universe of pop music but is simultaneously imbued with ferocity and fervour.
The elongated, vertical plaster reliefs spread over the exhibition spaces’ two floors, as a kind of small portals the viewer can step into, yet at same time they are completely concrete. The reliefs are plaster casts of cardboard and construction materials found on streets, building sites and similar places. One materiality transferred into another materiality. The surface of the reliefs may appear plain, but it represents a micro-landscape filled with memories and stories that slowly reveal themselves to the viewer. The reliefs appear both hard and fragile, corporeal, and industrial at the same time.
The new prints use a stretched version of the baroque image of St. Sebastian painted by Peter Paul Rubens in around 1614 as a starting point. A mythological figure always swinging between pleasure and torment. Saint Sebastian – today a central reference in the queer milieu – has been painted by many artists throughout history of art, typically in the nude as a physically beautiful youth with arrows pierced into his body and his gaze directed towards the hereafter. In the new copper prints, through the restless markings and deconstructed motif, the body appears more ambiguous.
In connection with the exhibition, a poster-catalogue with new texts by poet Beinir Bergsson and art critic and curator Kinna Poulsen is presented. The poster catalogue is designed by Svanna Højgaard Joensen.
The copper prints have been created in collaboration with Printer’s Proof and at the Danish Art Workshops. The exhibition has been generously supported by Den Hielmstierne-Rosencronske Stiftelse, Fjølrit, Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond, Københavns Kommune, Lizzi og Mogens Staal Fonden, Poul Johansen Fonden, Mentanargrunnur Landsins, Almanna- og Mentamálaráðið, and
Statens Kunstfond.
Jóhan Martin Christiansen (b. 1987) is a visual artist and holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy (2014). Christiansen primarily works with sculpture and installations, but video and graphics are also part of his practice. His work revolves around natural and constructed environments, queer body memory, the baroque and pop music. Latest exhibitions include You are a flower and in the winter I miss U, Heerz Tooya (BG, 2022), Tell It To My Heart, Steinprent (FO, 2021), Speaking in Tongues, Møstings Hus (DK, 2020), and TRACES, National Gallery of the Faroe Islands (2016)
