Shape Shifting

ANNE VILSBØLL & EMILIE LUNDSTRØM: SHAPE SHIFTING / 06.02 – 07.03 2015

Galleri Christoffer Egelund is proud to present the energetic conjunction of the two Danish artists Anne Vilsbøll and Emilie Lundstrøm in the exhibition: Shape Shifting.

In the exhibition Shape Shifting the primal power of the bull and the instinctive energy of the deer are united across a range of different media such as photography, painting, sculpture and installation. With references to history, dreams and myths, Emilie Lundstrøm and Anne Vilsbøll question our rational understanding of our planet and existence in a constantly expanding cosmos. Animal motives take center stage in the work of both artists when it comes to communicating the myth of our human reality. In his book Totemism from 1962, the French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss wrote how ”animals are good to think with”, something that can still be found to be true in the compelling visual universes of Vilsbøll and Lundstrøm.

Anne Vilsbøll’s transfiguration of the bull motive balances between figuration and abstraction and communicates the disparate faiths of the bull: as subject of worship in the East and as object of entertainment in the West. The artist makes her own paper for her paintings which lends to them a very special, rough structure. Her intense work with paper production stems from the belief that what is painted on is just as important as what is painted. The saturated colour fields in combination with the texture of the paper give the pieces a rhythmical variation that seems to detach the motives from the canvases and let them influence the surrounding space..

Emilie Lundstrøm investigates the transformation and cycles of the natural world and its confrontations with ‘civilization’ through her photography. Deer are recurrent motives in her investigations. Nature, represented in the deer, reaches into and collides with human culture as is the case when New York City creates a ”task force” to handle the rising numbers of deer on Staten Island. Nature is cherished and protected but must also be kept under control so as not to threaten the borders of civilization. The deer of Lundstrøm’s photographs look up and confront the human presence.

An interesting contrast comes into being when the textured paintings of Vilsbøll meet the photographs of Lundstrøm. But at times the evident contrasts seem to dissolve when Lundstrøm lets some of her photographs appear grained and unfocused – as to symbolise the unstable limits between nature and civilization.

In the exhibited photograph Arcadia a heavy piece of red fabric hangs from a rope as put out to dry. When placed side by side with the colourful bulls of Anne Vilsbøll, this cloth takes on a very specific meaning. Just as the bull is taunted with the red cloth, we are lured into a fantastic universe where recognisable forms and abstraction live side by side and our world is revealed in the relationship between man and animal.

Emilie Lundstrøm is a visual artist, she lives and works in New York. She has a MFA from ICP-Bard University, NYC  in Advanced Photographic Studies, and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Photography from Glasgow School of Art. She has exhibited her work at Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition 2011, Copenhagen Photography Festival 2011 and 2012, Royal Scottish Academy’s New Contemporaries Award exhibition, Edinburgh 2012, KE – The Fall Exhibtion 2010, Photographs of Hurricane Sandy, Governors Island, NY 2013 and Mono no aware, Brooklyn Light Studioes, NY 2014, etc.

Anne Vilsbøll is an artist, writer and curator specializing in handmade paper as artistic medium. She lives and works in Copenhagen, in St. Jeannet, France and Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. She studied Art History and the French language at Copenhagen University and the University in Aix-en-Provence from 1970–72 and is furthermore a trained teacher from Jonstrup Seminarium 1972-76. In 1982-84 she studied with professor Frank Eckmair,  Paper and Prints, Suny, Buffalo , New York and with  Nancy O’Banion, CCAC, Oakland and through several years she has done her research at paper mills and paper workshops all over the world (1984-2015). Her work has been exhibited at museums and galleries nationally and internationally, and she has undertaken numerous large-scale decoration tasks among others The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark, Skæring Church, Rolex, Chatelain, Odense University Hospital, Hammel Neuro Center, Dong, Nykredit, Olicom, Foss Electric, Den Kgl. Veterinær – og Landbohøjskole, Silkeborg Music– and Theater House samt Viborg Stadion.

Galleri Christoffer Egelund cordially invites you to the opening of Anne Vilsbøll og Emilie Lundstrøm: Shape Shifting Friday the 6th of February 2015 from 17-20. The exhibition will run until March the 7th 2015. Opening hours: Monday-Friday from 11-18, Saturdays from 12-16. For further information and press photographs, please contact the gallery at: info@christofferegelund.dk or at +45 33 93 92 00.

[DK]

ANNE VILSBØLL & EMILIE LUNDSTRØM: SHAPE SHIFTING / 06.02 – 07.03 2015

Galleri Christoffer Egelund er stolt af at kunne præsentere et synergisk møde mellem de to kunstnere Anne Vilsbøll og Emilie Lundstrøm i udstillingen: Shape Shifting.

På udstillingen Shape Shifting forenes tyrens urkraft og dådyrets instinktive energi på tværs af fotografi, maleri, skulptur og installation. Med referencer til historie, drømme og myter stiller Emilie Lundstrøm og Anne Vilsbøll spørgsmål til den rationelle forståelse af vores planet og vores eksistens i et stadigt udvidende kosmos. Hos begge kunstnere indtager dyremotivet en central plads i formidlingen af myten om vores egen menneskelige virkelighed. Den franske antropolog Claude Lévi-Strauss skrev i sin bog Totemism (1962), at: ”dyr er gode at tænke med”, noget der må siges stadig at gøre sig gældende i Vilsbølls og Lundstrøms dragende, visuelle univers.

Anne Vilsbølls bearbejdelse af tyremotivet, der balancerer på grænsen mellem figuration og abstraktion, fremstiller tyrens dobbelte skæbne som tilbedelsessubjekt i Østen og underholdningsobjekt i Vesten. Hun fremstiller selv papiret til sine malerier, der tilfører dem en særlig grov, levende struktur. Hendes intense arbejde med papiret har rod i en tro på, at det kunstneren maler på, er lige så vigtigt som det, der males. De mættede farvefelter  giver i kombination med papirets tekstur hendes værker en særlig rytmisk variation, der synes at løsrive de delvist abstrakte motiver fra deres lærreder og lade dem yde deres virkning på rummet.

Emilie Lundstrøm er interesseret i den naturlige verdens transformationer og cyklusser og dens konfrontationer med ‘civilisationen’. Dådyret er et tilbagevendende motiv i kunstnerens afsøgning af disse konfrontationer. Naturen, repræsenteret i dådyret, støder imod og griber ind i den menneskelige kultur, som når New York City indsætter en ”task force” til at håndtere et stigende antal dådyr på Staten Island. Naturen værnes om og beskyttes, men må også holdes under kontrol for ikke at true civilisationens grænser. Dådyret kigger op og spidser ører i Lundstrøms fotografier – dyret svarer igen på menneskets tilstedeværelse.

Der opstår en interessant kontrast, når Vilsbølls texturelle malerier møder det fotografiske medie hos Lundstrøm. Maleri og fotografi rykker dog hinanden nærmere, når Lundstrøm i visse af sine fotografier lader motivet fremstå kornet og rystet som en henvisning til de flydende grænser mellem natur og kultur.

I fotografiet Arcadia er et tungt rødt stykke stof hængt op over et stykke reb. Side om side med tyremotiverne hos Anne Vilsbøll taler det røde klæde sit tydelige sprog. Som tyren, der pirres med det røde klæde, lokkes vi ind i et farvemættet univers, hvor genkendelige former og abstraktioner lever side om side, og vores verden åbenbarer sig i forholdet mellem menneske og dyr.

Emilie Lundstrøm er visuel kunstner og bor og arbejder i New York. Hun har en MFA fra ICP-Bard University, NYC  i Advanced Photographic Studies, og en BA (Hons) i Fine Art Photography fra Glasgow School of Art. Hun har udstillet på Charlottenborg Kunsthals Forårsudstilling 2011, Copenhagen Photography Festival 2011 og 2012, Royal Scottish Academys New Contemporaries Award exhibition, Edinburgh 2012, KE – Efterårsudstilling 2010, Photographs of Hurricane Sandy, Governors Island, NY 2013 samt Mono no aware, Brooklyn Light Studioes, NY 2014, m.fl.

Anne Vilsbøll er billedkunstner, forfatter og kurator med speciale i håndlavet papir som kunstnerisk udtryksmiddel. Hun bor og arbejder i København, i St. Jeannet, Frankrig samt Udaipur, Rajasthan, Indien. Anne Vilsbøll har studeredet Fransk og Kunsthistorie på Københavns Universitet og universitetet i Aix-en-Provence 1970–72 og er desuden læreruddannet fra Jonstrup Seminarium 1972-76. I 1982-84 har hun studeret hos  professorFrank Eckmair, Paper and Prints, Suny, Buffalo, New York og hos Nancy O’Banion, CCAC, Oakland, og har gennem en lang årrække researchet på papirmøller og papirværksteder over hele verden (1984-2015). Hun har udstillet på museer og gallerier i ind-og udland samt udført adskillige større udsmykninger herunder for Udenrigsministeriet, Skæring Kirke, Rolex, Chatelain, Odense Universitetshospital, Hammel Neurocenter, Dong, Nykredit, Olicom, Foss Electric, Den Kgl. Veterinær – og Landbohøjskole, Silkeborg Musik– og Teaterhus samt Viborg Stadion.

Galleri Christoffer Egelund inviterer dig til ferniseringen af udstillingen Anne Vilsbøll og Emilie Lundstrøm: Shape Shifting fredag den 6. februar 2015 kl 17-20. Udstillingen løber indtil lørdag den 7. marts 2015. Åbningstider: mandag-fredag kl. 11-18, lørdag kl. 12-16. For yderligere information og pressefotografier kontakt venligst galleriet på: info@christofferegelund.dk eller på +45 33 93 92 00.