Galerie Gabriel Rolt
Amsterdam
Elandsgracht 34
+31 207855146
WEB
Anna Bjerger
dal 22/5/2009 al 26/6/2009

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Galerie Gabriel Rolt


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Anna Bjerger



 
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22/5/2009

Anna Bjerger

Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam

Invisibles. an exhibition of recent paintings and works on paper. Her works capture fleeting moments. We, the viewer, are involved in the paintings as covert onlookers. A tense relationship occurs between the actions represented in the painting and our inclusion as a spectator.


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Galerie Gabriel Rolt is proud to present INVISIBLES, an exhibition of recent paintings and works on paper by Swedish artist Anna Bjerger. This will be Bjerger’s first solo exhibition in The Netherlands. The paintings of Anna Bjerger capture fleeting moments. We, the viewer, are involved in the paintings as covert onlookers. A tense relationship occurs between the actions represented in the painting and our inclusion as a spectator.

Bjerger works from found photographs, mostly collected from out of date reference books and travel manuals. She is utilizing the photograph's ability to capture short-lived moments and actions. By painting these images, she salvages what would otherwise be lost moments - recreating them as painting, the most permanent of mediums. In her technique, Bjerger does not approach the photograph in a cold, distant manner - her painting is rich and loose, removing the image from its origins and injecting an emotive, atmospheric flavour into the scenes. The images Bjerger chooses often have a generic quality. The original meaning is private and unknown and can therefore be translated into paintings of people and places that hold no direct associations for the viewer. The who, when and where of these paintings always remains ambiguous, unspecified. There is an outdated, almost nostalgic quality in her choice of images - innocent childhoods, tentative romance, glorious scenery - and subsequently there is a romantic yet also sinister flavour to these too-perfect scenes.

The events are often idyllic and beautiful - children playing in a field, a couple taking a walk through a forest - yet also very mundane. Bjerger involves the viewer, positioning us as an actual spectator in the scene. This is directly acknowledged in ‘Snap’, in which a woman focuses a camera towards the viewer. In many of the works, however, there is a feeling of intrusion, voyeurism, at bearing witness to these intimate, private moments. This role is most explicitly addressed in ‘Jumper’, which portrays the classic image of peeping tomism: a woman undressing. Framed by a window, she has a perfect figure, her sight temporarily obscured as she pulls her clothes over her head. It is a charged as well as ridiculous image - the ultimate adolescent fantasy - and Bjerger emphasises our exploitative, predatory gaze with her seductive handling of paint and the graceful, careful composition of the image.

In her oil paintings, Bjerger works with confident, uncluttered marks. The paint is rapidly applied, her colours simple and essential. This controlled, forceful quality captures the spontaneity of the moments whilst also successfully describing the details and nuances of the landscapes, foliage and expressions. There are occasional turpentine streaks, offering the picture a sense of disintegration and frailty. In the watercolours, Bjerger shows us only the figures, dislocated from their action and environments, floating in the white of the paper. Nature plays a prominent role in Bjerger's work. It is a nature of escape, wonder, love, play - one that reflects the honesty and integrity of the experiences depicted. It is also wild, untamed - enveloping and dwarfing the people. In all her works, there is uneasy presence or subversion, such as this, that unbalances the otherwise beautiful moment. It is Bjerger's understanding of each image's essence and control of the medium, that creates works of spontaneity, simplicity and directness of expression, each with its own intensity and character.

Anna Bjerger (1973 Skallsjo, Sweden) studied at the Royal College of Art and Central St Martins College in London. Recent solo shows include David Risley Gallery (London), ALP Gallery (Stockholm) and Bucket Rider Gallery (Chicago). Bjerger's work is included in the collections of Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Glaspaleis Heerlen, Gävle Landsting, Sweden, Larsen Collection, Stockholm, Zabludowicz Collection, London, alongside many private collections.

Opening may 23th 2009

Galerie Gabriel Rolt
Elandsgracht 34 - Amsterdam
Free admission

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