Advertisement
OPENINGMARCH 21 at 16:00-19:00
Arden Asbæk Gallery is pleased to present the duo exhibition Tale as Old as Time, Song as Old as Rhyme with Josephine Baltzersen and Marlene Gartner. Both artists approach everyday life, love and struggles, in a way that is reminiscent of ancient art. Vases, pitchers and reliefs are embedded with life and stories about humanity; stories that are not without complications, but which are emblematic of who we are.
Marlene Gartner, who is a graduate from the Department of Ceramics at the Royal Academy of Design on Bornholm, carves and engraves her work in different types of clay, creating colorful and humorous storylines. Her use of humor, however, has become a tool to observe and portray complicated issues related to our
civilization, environmental degradation, global fear as well as her personal life. In her most recent body of work, she depicts the ocean in the state of emergency with fuming factory chimneys
along the riverbank. Her work is motivated by a visit to the ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico. Here, she found inspiration in not only the Mayans’ perception of the world, but also in their craftmanship, where ceramics became the canvases of artists to create scenes of myths as well as to experiment with bold graphics and
abstract images. These vessels, which date back thousands of years, are today what provide us with a glimpse into the culture and everyday life of the Mayan civilization.
Josephine Baltzersen, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with an MFA in 2022, is similarly interested in storytelling. Inspired by Antiquity and polychromy, the artist creates reliefs by carving into recycled linoleum and casting in acrylic plaster. Baltzersen's work explores the intersection between classical casting and printing techniques as well as the potential of colors. Her characters are often stripped of both identity markers and context, something that is often rooted in color. When looking at ancient marble and plaster artworks today, we are only presented with fragments of the larger works, both due to the works being incomplete, but also since they’ve been removed from their intended environment. Similarly, Baltzersen’s reliefs are excerpts of a story: Two people embracing, a hand on a shoulder, the curling of a lip. These fragments of intimacy do not only leave room for our own imagination and personal associations to reconstruct the rest of the narrative, but they also reveal the energy between people.
The exhibition explores the interplay between historical craft traditions and contemporary narratives about social norms, identity and the state of the planet, while also demonstrating ancient storytelling’s lasting influence on contemporary art.
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Bredgade 23, 1260 Copenhagen, Denmark, Bredgade 23, 1260 København K, Danmark,Copenhagen, Copenhagen , Denmark
