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Lot Essay
Berlin-based Danish artist Sergej Jensen often describes his works as "paintings without paint." His works typically consist of linen, burlap, wool or canvas that has been exposed to a range of conditions, events and owners, allowing traces of wear to become part of its history. He stretches and sews fabrics onto or into one another, occasionally bleaching or dying the fabric from the reverse to remove rather than add color to his final product. Recycling and nature also factor into Jensen's work; superfluous material from previous works reappear in newer paintings, fabrics are dried over stretcher bars and allowed to remain torn, and fabric is left outdoors to permit the weather the alter its texture.
With this work, Untitled, Jensen continues his investigation into the canvas, reminding the viewer that one is looking at not only a painting but also a fabric and a work of textile art. In this respect, Jensen's oeuvre calls to mind the work of Alberto Burri and his stitched and contorted canvases which reinforced the tactile quality of the medium and blurred the lines between painting and sculpture, abstraction and representation. Though Jensen's work clearly echoes the minimalist traditions of Robert Ryman and Ad Reinhardt, he also challenges them by finding inspiration in different contemporary concepts. Furthermore, in previous exhibitions, Jensen has also subverted the gallery context by arranging his paintings alongside traditional home elements such as a fireplace, rugs or carpeting. Jensen's greatest concern is to connect the medium to quotidian elements.
This work is comprised of bags from the Deutsche Bundesbank, or the German Federal Bank, sewn together and stretched like a canvas. Though it is simple to subscribe to a deeper symbolism of the bags given that by 2011 Germany was still in the throes of an economic crisis, they refer more to Jensen's preferred medium of found objects. Although, the artist is alluding to a more complex relationship with finance as, in a different work titled 'Eye of the maker' consisting of various foreign banknotes, Jensen points to a direct relationship to the commercial market.
Jensen has exhibited at the Berlin and Sao Paulo Biennials, the Pinakothek Der Moderne in Munich and recently at MoMA PS1. Though Jensen's works are surprisingly diverse in their approaches, his oeuvre has an innate, unproduced tranquility characterized by a timid luminosity enhanced by the lack of paint. By producing works sparse of extraneous details, he sharpens the viewer's perception and brings beauty to things that would otherwise be ignored like a speck of wool, a frayed edge, a spot of dirt or a small hole. It is with the acceptance of a more tactile art that Jensen's work is best experienced.
With this work, Untitled, Jensen continues his investigation into the canvas, reminding the viewer that one is looking at not only a painting but also a fabric and a work of textile art. In this respect, Jensen's oeuvre calls to mind the work of Alberto Burri and his stitched and contorted canvases which reinforced the tactile quality of the medium and blurred the lines between painting and sculpture, abstraction and representation. Though Jensen's work clearly echoes the minimalist traditions of Robert Ryman and Ad Reinhardt, he also challenges them by finding inspiration in different contemporary concepts. Furthermore, in previous exhibitions, Jensen has also subverted the gallery context by arranging his paintings alongside traditional home elements such as a fireplace, rugs or carpeting. Jensen's greatest concern is to connect the medium to quotidian elements.
This work is comprised of bags from the Deutsche Bundesbank, or the German Federal Bank, sewn together and stretched like a canvas. Though it is simple to subscribe to a deeper symbolism of the bags given that by 2011 Germany was still in the throes of an economic crisis, they refer more to Jensen's preferred medium of found objects. Although, the artist is alluding to a more complex relationship with finance as, in a different work titled 'Eye of the maker' consisting of various foreign banknotes, Jensen points to a direct relationship to the commercial market.
Jensen has exhibited at the Berlin and Sao Paulo Biennials, the Pinakothek Der Moderne in Munich and recently at MoMA PS1. Though Jensen's works are surprisingly diverse in their approaches, his oeuvre has an innate, unproduced tranquility characterized by a timid luminosity enhanced by the lack of paint. By producing works sparse of extraneous details, he sharpens the viewer's perception and brings beauty to things that would otherwise be ignored like a speck of wool, a frayed edge, a spot of dirt or a small hole. It is with the acceptance of a more tactile art that Jensen's work is best experienced.