Mirror falling from the Wall

Galleri Opdahl Stavanger
October 21-November 26, 2017

Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen
January 19-March 10, 2018

Ten paintings of identical size equally divided by a horizontal line defining two rectangles: The format cut in separate pictorial fields with the canvas left unprimed, alternatingly above or below the horizontal line. Painted in heavy impasto on top of primed, raw and coloured grounds, words with reference to painting’s theoretical framework and physical presence are distributed. Next to concepts related to mythology and painterly problematics, various pigments and solvents, occasionally even number of staples used, are listed. This juxtaposition of generic technical information with poetic descriptions seem to destabilize dichtonomies based on form and content.

In his last show Originals Grisaille, Elgin presented emphatic repetitions of early modernist works next to grey-scale versions of the same. In the present show Mirror falling from the Wall this split image is played out in singular works evoking pre-modernist repetitive strategies. In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, particularly in the figure of Echo, transformation is frequently a consequence of repetition. In Mirror falling from the Wall, the repeated format with its linear division echoes the divided structure and exact measurements (110×92 cm) of Caravaggio’s Narcissus. Rather than continuing modernism’s critique of repetition, painting’s narcissistic self-obsession and auto-erotic character is played out here. Painting’s alleged self-absorption offers an unexpected visual encounter in the blind-zone of the mirror; repetition as a strategy for invention.

Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018
Mirror falling from the Wall: Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018

Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018
Mirror falling from the Wall: Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018

Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018
Mirror falling from the Wall: Bo Bjerggaard Copenhagen 2018

Galleri Opdahl 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: Galleri Opdahl 2017

Galleri Opdahl 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: Galleri Opdahl 2017

(carnation) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall : (carnation) 2017

(mythos) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (mythos) 2017

(phantasma) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (phantasma) 2017

(figure) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (figure) 2017

(simili) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (simili) 2017

(reflection) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (reflection) 2017

(foliage) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (foliage) 2017

(drapery) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall: (drapery) 2017

(pathos) 2017
Mirror falling from the Wall : (pathos) 2017