Lena Johansson
dal 28/11/2012 al 18/1/2013
Segnalato da
28/11/2012
Lena Johansson
Bendixen contemporary art, Copenhagen
To all that we loved. All paintings on display function as solitary works but the artist will stage the different elements of the show to indicate the story between them.
A private photo album, a visual voyage in time. Something passed, yet something meaningful. Lena Johansson’s solo show at Bendixen Contemporary Art is an exclusive exhibition of small paintings and objects from her private space. Although inspired by images from fashion and lifestyles magazines, she is including a more personal and documentary dimension in this show. Consequently, she is occupied with specific sites and faces and works with private footage as an important starting point.
As is the case with any good personal story, most people can relate to it. That does not mean, however, that we have full access to the message the paintings enclose. On one hand, this could be the memories of anyone. At second glance, the paintings seem to withdraw themselves secretly from the viewer and ignite our imagination. We could be spying on someone else’s life, we could be gazing at something delicate and maybe even forbidden – a love scene, a gloomy childhood home or the hunting and killing of a wolf in the forest.
These portraits of time balance in a schism between strength and fragility and remain ambiguous. The faces, landscapes and interiors point to a certain Nordic nostalgia, and the motives often seem cropped or incomplete and leave the viewer hungry for more.
All paintings on display function as solitary works but the artist will stage the different elements of the show to indicate the story between them. In addition to the paintings, she has collected and brought small, dead animals in matchboxes that will be placed in a group of small podiums in the gallery space.
This could be a dense Memento Mori, a beautiful, sensible and immensely sad awareness and remembrance of our own mortality. Either that, or it is the mourning of things that are in the past – events, people, gardens and homes, loved and lost forever.
Lena Johansson graduated from Malmö Art Academy in 2007. This is Johansson’s second solo at bendixen contemporary art, Copenhagen. Her latest solo was at Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery, Stockholm, followed by exhibitions fx at; Lunds Konsthall, Värmland Museum and Avesta Art, all in Sweden.
Johansson’s works are represented in the collection of Malmö Konstmuseum, Sweden, and her works are included in several international private collections. For further information or images, please contact the gallery.
Image: Flickor (allra käraste Tova), 2012 Oil on MDF,
24 5/16 x 17 1/16 in. (63 x 43,7 cm)
Opening reception: Thursday (Torsdag), November 29, 5-7 PM
Bendixen contemporary art
Palægade 5, 1261 Copenhagen K.
Tues – Friday: 12-17
Sat: 12 – 15
gallery closed because of Christmas + New Year, from December 23, to January 3