January 16 - February 21
“I lived next to a wooded area as a child. We dragged scrap wood from construction sites into the woods and built clubhouses for play and “make believe”. As an artist living in Brooklyn, I found myself building lofts and scavenging for wood much like I did as a child but here for live and work space. The pine interior has become a virtual realm in which narratives of nature and culture are able to blend.”
John Jacobsmeyer, 2015
Erindringen om barndommens hemmelige huler, små loftværelser og andre erobrede gemmesteder står klart frem, når vi kigger ind i John Jacobsmeyers univers af fyrretræskasser. Vi får lov til at kigge ind i en verden, hvortil døren ellers helst er hårdt smækket i, og hvor skiltet ’ingen adgang for voksne’ er en selvfølgelighed og ikke en fornærmelse.
Gallery Poulsen er med John Jacobsmeyers første soloudstilling i Danmark ”It Came From a Pine Box” begejstret for at tilbyde jer en plads som den ubemærkede flue på væggen med direkte udsyn til Jacobsmeyers fantastiske træinteriørs i både maleri og træsnit.
Med en åben sprække ind til teenageværelset ser vi unge mennesker frivilligt fanget og opslugt af deres forskellige interesser; at samle på heste, at spille videospil og at læse science fiction. Ordet teenager går i manges øjne hånd i hånd med begrebet doven, men der er også masser af opfindsomhed og kreativitet på spil i disse teenageres paralleluniverser, som Jacobsmeyer gerne vil huske os på.
Der kan komme meget ud af frie tanker, der balancerer på grænsen mellem fantasi og virkelighed – og der kan i denne sammenhæng komme rigtigt meget ud af en fyrretræskasse, hvilket hovedværket ”Zombie Senate” er det klareste eksempel på. Her forenes skelletter, ”Occupy” demonstranter, zombier, amerikanske præsidenter, karakterer fra vintage Hollywood film og terminators i et stort kaos, hvor den legendariske figur Ellen Ripley fra ”Alien”-filmene er i centrum for hele scenariet. Det er en overvældende scene, og jo mere vi går på opdagelse i værket, jo flere ekstra dimensioner af humor, politik og fortællinger finder vi.
John Jacobsmeyer samler i ”Zombie Senate” på elegant vis hele udstillingen ved at visualisere den længsel efter at skabe en alternativ virkelighed, som mange unge og kreative sind har. Men der er også et mylder af røde tråde og sammenhæng alle værker imellem. Værket ”Painter of Light” viser os Jacobsmeyer selv i færd med at male ”Zombie Senate”, og træsnittene ”Senate Camera 1” og ”Senate Camera 2” giver os et vue af ”Zombie Senate” fra overvågningskameraernes vinkler.
Den største fællesnævner er dog ikke til at komme uden om – fyrretræet. I ”It Came from a Pine Box” præsenterer Jacobsmeyer os for både malerier og træsnit alle med detaljerede motiver, hvor fyrretræet dominerer fladerne. Natur og kultur bliver bundet sammen og begge beriges i den grad af hinandens tilstedeværelse. Jacobsmeyers teknik er yderst imponerende og fængslende. Selv den mindste lille træsplint er med.
Med et klart tema af amerikansk nørderi, hvad end det gælder hestesamlinger, videospil eller kunstproduktion, dufter vi fyrretræet og glædes over, at Jean-Pierre Roy præsenterede os for denne fantastiske kunstner. John Jacobsmeyer tilfører Gallery Poulsen endnu en ny, særegen og enestående kunstnerisk stil, som helt sikkert kommer fra en meget særlig fyrretræskasse!
John Jacobsmeyer ankommer til København på onsdag og vil være til stede til ferniseringen.
Udstillingen består af seks oliemalerier og fem træsnit.
John Jacobsmeyer (f. 1964, Ann Arbor, Michigan) har de sidste 15 år været en aktiv bidragyder af konceptuel figurativ kunst på New Yorks kunstscene. Han driver JJHS Press, hvorfra hans ordløse bog “More Than Human” blev udgivet i 2010 og portfolioen “Safety First” for the Shanghai Metro i 2013. Jacobsmeyer tog en BFA from The University of New Hampshire og en MFA i maleri og grafik fra Yale University. Han underviser i grafik, maleri og kunstteori på New York Academy of Art’s Graduate School. Han har undervist og holdt forelæsninger på over 40 gymnasier og universiteter rundt i verden, herunder RISD, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, Shanghai University, Vanderbilt University og Pratt Institute. Han har opnået artist residencies fra the Ragdale Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Anchor Graphics, Cill Rialig Ireland, Shanghai University og Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul. Af udnævnelser kan nævnes to stipendier fra New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Basil Alkazzi Award, et Fulbright Fellowship til Italien, et Pollack-Krasner Grant og et New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship. Hans værker er inkluderet i permanente samlinger i Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, New Mexico, Springfield Museum of Art, Ohio, States of New Hampshire and South Carolina og i private samlinger.
”I lived next to a wooded area as a child. We dragged scrap wood from construction sites into the woods and built clubhouses for play and “make believe”. As an artist living in Brooklyn, I found myself building lofts and scavenging for wood much like I did as a child but here for live and work space. The pine interior has become a virtual realm in which narratives of nature and culture are able to blend.”
John Jacobsmeyer, 2015
The memory of childhood’s secret caves, clubhouses and other conquered hiding spaces clearly appear when we look into the enchanting universe of John Jacobsmeyer’s pine boxes. Here we have the opportunity to enter a world to which the door is usually slammed, and were the sign “No Adults Allowed” is a truism, not an insult.
With John Jacobsmeyer’s first solo show in Denmark ”It Came From a Pine Box”, Gallery Poulsen is thrilled to offer you a position as the fly on the wall, where you get a direct view into the fantastic wood interiors of Jacobsmeyer in both paintings and woodcuts.
We see young people voluntarily absorbed by their hobbies; collecting horses, playing video games, reading science fiction. In the eyes of many people the word ‘teenager’ goes hand in hand with the concept of ‘lazy’ but there is also plenty of ingenuity and creativity at play in these teenagers’ parallel universes, something that Jacobsmeyer wants us to remember.
Much can come from free thoughts balancing on the boundary between fantasy and reality – and in this context a whole lot can come from a pine box, which the main work “Zombie Senate” is the clearest example of. Skeletons, “Occupy” protesters, zombies, US presidents, characters from vintage Hollywood cinema and terminators are united in a state of chaos, where the legendary character Ellen Ripley from the “Alien” movies is at the heart of the scenario. It’s an overwhelming scene, and the more we examine the work, the more humor, politics and stories we find.
John Jacobsmeyer elegantly orchestrated the tableau in “Zombie Senate” by visualizing the yearning to create an alternative reality, that many young and creative minds have. But there is also a myriad of links between all of the show’s works. The work “Painter of Light” shows us Jacobsmeyer himself in the process of painting “Zombie Senate”, and the woodcuts “Senate Camera 1” and “Senate Camera 2” provide us with a view of “Zombie Senate” from the perspectives of two security cameras.
However the biggest common denominator should not be missed – the pine. In “It Came From a Pine Box” Jacobsmeyer presents both paintings and woodcuts all with detailed motives, where pine dominates the surfaces. Nature and culture are intertwined, and both are indeed enriched by each other’s presence. Jacobsmeyer’s technique is extremely impressive and captivating. Even the smallest splinter of wood is depicted.
With a clear theme of American geakness, whether it applies to horse collections, art production, zombies or video games, we smell the pine and are pleased that Jean-Pierre Roy introduced us to this amazing artist. John Jacobsmeyer adds yet another distinctive artistic style to Gallery Poulsen, which certainly comes from a very special pine box!
John Jacobsmeyer arrives in Copenhagen Wednesday and will be present at the opening reception.
The show includes six oil paintings and five woodcuts.
John Jacobsmeyer (b. 1964, Ann Arbor, Michigan) has been an active contributor to the discourse on conceptual figuration in the New York area for the past 15 years. He operates the JJHS Press where his wordless book “More Than Human” was published in 2010 and the portfolio “Safety First” was published for the Shanghai Metro in 2013. Jacobsmeyer earned his BFA from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University. He teaches printmaking, painting, and art theory at the New York Academy of Art’s Graduate School. He has taught or given lectures at over 40 Colleges and Universities around the world including RISD, Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, Shanghai University, Vanderbilt University, and the Pratt Institute. He received artist residencies at the Ragdale Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Anchor Graphics, Cill Rialig Ireland, Shanghai University and Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul. Awards include two fellowships from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the Basil Alkazzi Award, a Fulbright Fellowship to Italy, a Pollack-Krasner Grant and a New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship. His work is housed in the permanent collections of the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, New Mexico, the Springfield Museum of Art, Ohio, the States of New Hampshire and South Carolina, and the Cities of Seattle and Shanghai, China as well as numerous colleges, universities and private collections.
John Jacobsmeyer (US)
"It Came From a Pine Box"
16.01- 21.02
Opening reception Friday January 16th from 5 - 7pm
