Untitled - Galleri Bo Bjerggaard

Flowers for Poul
John Armleder / Cosima von Bonin
Paul Fägerskiöld / Callum Innes / SUPERFLEX
Janaina Tschäpe / Erwin Wurm
– and Poul Gernes
Blomster til Poul
“Vi ser gerne tusinde blomster blomstre og var det muligt hundrede af kunstretninger
mødes og brydes, men de må spire, vokse og modnes udfra et reelt socialt engagement, der klart og tydeligt vedgår, at kunsten også er til for at forbedre og højne livskvaliteten for almenvellet.”
Poul Gernes 1
Poul Gernes var en kunstner for hvem, det at være kunstner betød uendeligt lidt, mens
det at lave kunst: at udsmykke menneskets hverdagsmiljøer betød så godt som alt.
Poul Gernes blev født den 19. marts 1925 på Frederiksberg og ville være fyldt 90 år i år,
hvis ikke det var for hans tidlige død 22. marts 1996 i sit hus i Ekeröd. Gennem årene
har der tegnet sig et billede af en kunstner, der trods sin aversion mod kunstnerrollen
og mange af de mekanismer, der omgærder kunsten, efterlader sig et indtryk som
‘kunstnernes kunstner’. Lad det blot være sagt i denne sammenhæng, at oftest er det
kollegaer til Gernes fra ind- og udland, der beder om at få galleriets dør til rummet med
de farvestrålende masonitter åbnet op. Derfor var det også nærliggende for galleriet at
markere den runde fødselsdag ved at bede et udpluk af de kunstnere, der gennem
årene har udvist passion og interesse for Gernes’ værk, om at bidrage til nærværende
udstilling Flowers for Poul.
Flowers for Poul er i sin helhed tænkt som en udstilling, der fremviser og nuancerer
forskellige aspekter af Gernes’ kunstnerskab med masonitten i fokus, og som i sammenstillingen med de indbudte kunstneres værker accentuerer andre forhold i Gernes’
værk end dem, der sædvanligvis vægtes. Samtidig er det – i en omvendt tid i dag, hvor
et emne er verdensudbredt førend landskendt – en anledning til at præsentere Gernes
som en kunstner med internationalt format. Omend overvejende nationalt opererende i
sin samtid udstilles hans værk post mortem i internationalt anerkendte sammenhænge
som documenta (2007), Deichtorhallen (2010) og Art Basel (2011) for blot at nævne
nogle få, ligesom hans værk vil fylde Louisianas sale i foråret 2016. Men det internationale prædikat er måske allermest interessant med en udstilling som denne, hvori de
indbudte kunstnere alle ønsker at medvirke ud fra en dybfølt respekt for kollegaen og
fødselaren samt af kærlighed til kunsten.
Udstillingstitlen Flowers for Poul refererer til den simple gestus at give nogen blomster
i en særlig anledning. Dernæst peger den på perioden for ’flower power’, hvor den
Gernes, de fleste kender i dag, var særdeles virksom, og i hvilken de fleste af de maso­­
Poul Gernes
nitter, der udstilles, er undfanget. Og slutteligt med henvisning til udstillingen Blomster
Untitled (Panum), 1979
til Vejle i 1984 afspejler titlen Gernes’ forkærlighed for blomsten som motiv igennem sit
[PGM-80-003]
ouevre. Selvom blomstermotivet først rigtigt får fat fra midten af 70erne i diverse ud­­
smykningsopgaver, optræder det bl.a. i 1971 på Tin Tin-udstillingen på Tranegården i
form af en blomsterbuket udført i karton. Og længe inden da i hans naturalistiske ungdomstegninger fra Teknisk Skole i København, hvor han startede sin litografuddannelse
i 1943.
“Ham med farverne” er Gernes nok bedst kendt som. Selvom der findes andre kunstnere end netop Gernes, der har haft smæk på farverne og har været flinke til at benytte
dem, vil den almindelige dansker antageligt – takket være Gernes’ utallige udsmykninger – først komme hans navn i hu. Hvem kender ikke (og har ikke en mening om)
Palads biografen (1989)? Eller Herlev Hospital (1968-76)? Farverne inviterer os indenfor
– ikke i et fortællende maleri – men i et etisk, socialpolitisk projekt, i et legesygt, sprudlende og folkekært univers, hvor hverdag rimer på velbehag, og hvor nydelse og nøjsomhed går hånd i hånd. Sammenstød. Hånden, fornemmelsen og tilstedeværelsen af
mennesket i hver enkelt masonit, der på afstand fremstår klar grafisk og velafgrænset,
men som på klods hold foruden usentimentale sømhuller, støv, hår og hjælpelinjer har
bølgende, urette konturer, som kun et menneskes hånd kan skabe. Det “handler” om
det humane og menneskets væren og velbefindende i verden.
Inspirationen fra den geometrisk abstrakte kunst og sammenligningen med color fieldmalerne som eksempelvis Mark Rothko, Ellsworth Kelly og Kenneth Noland er dog –
trods fornemmelsen af hånden i Gernes’ værk – uomgængelig med præferencen for
store farveflader og skarpt optrukne linjer. På nærværende udstilling har irske Callum
Innes (f. 1962) bidraget med to malerier, der forfølger dette spor anno 2015. Untitled
Lamp Black No 23 og Untitled Lamp Black No 24 er en blå, henholdsvis rød monokrom,
hvor lærredet efterfølgende er overmalet med sort. Herefter tages halvdelen af den sorte
maling af igen med terpentin og to felter fremkommer. Den umiddelbart stramme, minimale komposition modsvares af en vibrerende og fysisk fornemmelse, der skyldes Innes’
skiftevis additive lag af maling og subtraktive teknik, der får billedfladen til at sitre.
I forlængelse af samme tradition kan man anskue Paul Fägerskiölds (f. 1982) værk White
Flag (Patriote Movement (Lower Canada)). Den svenske kunstners White Flag-serie er
en række hvide monokrome overmalinger af opløste politiske enheder eller geografiske
demarkationer. Udover at referere til Jasper Johns monokrom af det amerikanske flag
med samme titel fra 1955 kan værket også anskues politisk. Den hvide overmaling
afmonterer flaget dets betydning og den symbolik, farverne sædvanligvis repræsenterer. Symbolværdien er neutraliseret og erstattet af malingens tekstur og fladens materialitet. Vi påmindes nationale og regionale grænsers flygtighed og manglende selvfølgelighed ligesom Gernes’ legende serie af forslag til et EF-flag i 1972 kunne ses som et
(ironisk) bidrag til et forestillet fællesskab uden værdi: hvad forener os euro­­pæere? En
isvaffel? En fredsdue? Måske er duen det hvide flags pendant. Hvor Gernes opererede
i nutid – en aktuelt samfundspolitisk virkelighed – arbejder Fägerskiöld så at sige i datid
– forgangne nationer etc. – men begge blotlægger flagets magtfulde og kommunika­
tive funktion som et (pseudo)virkelighedsindstiftende og betydningsbærende symbol.
Poul Gernes
Untitled (Ice cream cone stitched onto white cloth), 1972
Suggestion for a European Community flag
[PGD-72-009]
Poul Gernes
Untitled (cloth bird stitched onto red cloth (colour faded with time)), 1972
Suggestion for a European Community flag
[PGD-72-007]
Paul Fägerskiöld
White Flag (Patriote Movement (Lower Canada)), 2013-2015
[PFM-15-001]
Med det ironiske og banale in mente sender den østrigske kunstner Erwin Wurms
(f. 1964) runde, skriggule klump – skulpturen Mind Bubble – Ridicule – en kærlig tanke
til Gernes’ tøjkugle fra 1962. Den umiddelbarhed, hvormed beskueren møder Wurms
bidrag til udstillingen, er ikke anderledes end den hurtige og letaflæselige modtagelse
Gernes søgte at give den forbipasserende med sit værk. Selvom begreber som absurditet og humor sjældent knyttes til Gernes’ værkpraksis er de alligevel tilstede i hans
Bagsider (de såkaldte ‘Røvbilleder’) fra 1969, hans papirperformance i 1967 eller i hans
førnævnte forslag til et EF-flag: et flag påsyet en softice. Ligeledes hos den tyske billed­­
kunstner Cosima Von Bonin (f. 1962) optræder tekstiler, absurditeter og barnagtigheder
i rige mængder. I værket GEFÜHLE DELIGIEREN er tøjdyret – en slags krabbe i kommunebrun – portrætteret i trekvart profil i et helt hvidt setup kun ledsaget af en orange
appelsin. Både havdyr såvel som appelsin har en hård slagskygge, der forstærker
følelsen af et opstillet, fotografisk miljø. Følelser uddelegeres – til hvem? Af hvem? En
absurd scene, der på én gang fremstår anonymiseret og genkendelig, kølig og varm,
kunstig og barnlig. Hos Bonin handler det ofte om en påpegning af de eksisterende
samfundsstrukturer i et omvendt, karikeret univers befolket med tegneserie-, konsumog populærkulturens skabninger.
SUPERFLEX (stiftet 1993) går anderledes handlingsorienteret til emnet. Udover det
rent visuelle, åbenlyse slægtskab med Gernes’ ’skydeskiver’ i gruppens to værkbidrag
INFORMATION MACHINE og COMMONS MACHINE fra 2006, deler de et etisk, politisk
kunstsyn; en tro på kunsten som katalysator for et bedre samfund. Kunsten har en
effekt i verden. Set i lyset af velfærdsstaten, der hos Gernes forplanter sig som en slags
re-distribution af æstetiske goder2, mens det hos SUPERFLEX udmønter sig i et “tools”begreb, hvori strategier, der faciliterer økonomisk eller ophavsretmæssig re-distribution,
lever på egne præmisser.
Farver var et helt centralt element i den æstetiske re-distribution for Gernes, ligesom
eksperimenter var det. Med Eks-skolen udforskede Gernes diverse teknikker, materialer og medier, kunsten som medium og selve institutionen kunst, – en undersøgende,
nysgerrig tilgang rundet af 60ernes fluxus-bevægelse som den schweiziske kunstner
John Armleder (f.1948) deler og stadig udlever den dag i dag. Velkendt er det, at Gernes
i denne periode eksperimenterede med farverne i sin maleriske praksis ud fra nogle
skarpe systematiske principper, hvori tilfældighederne qua systemet og spillereglerne
var det tilsigtede resultat. Gernes udtrykte det i artiklen “Spillesystemer eller bare systemer” i avantgarde tidsskriftet ta’ 2 således: “[M]ålet er at nå ikke tænkbare muligheder
og konstellationer. Bevidste kompositioner eller kompositionsprogrammer resulterer i for
uinteressante, gennemskuelige, for ikke at sige tomme resultater. Det bevidst skabte
indeholder kun undtagelsesvis noget, bevidstheden kan finde oplevelse i.”3 Gernes fortsatte artiklen med at redegøre for de forskellige principper eller spilleregler, som han
anvendte i sine systemmalerier, bl.a. “lotteriprincippet” og “farvestyrkeprincippet”.
Erwin Wurm
Systemerne banede vejen for en tilstræbt afpersonalisering og skal ses i sammenhæng
Mind Bubble – Ridicule, 2008
med Gernes’ omverdenssyn og avantgardistiske projekt: at nedbryde det hierarkiske
[EWS-08-006]
værdisystem i kunsten – hvilket notorisk bør ses som et korrelat til den samtidige ned-
Janaina Tschäpe
brydning af den hierarkiske og vertikale orden i samfundet, inden for familielivet og på
Mone, 2012
arbejdspladsen.4 Hos SUPERFLEX skal “spil” som begreb tages helt bogstaveligt; der
[JTZ-12-013]
er spilleregler, der skal følges og INFORMATION MACHINE og COMMONS MACHINE er
helt konkret udformet som to brætspil. Men hvor spilsystemerne for Gernes forbliver et
privat værktøj i skabelsesprocessen, er spillet hos SUPERFLEX ekstrovert og henvendt
til deltageren og dennes – indenfor spillets ramme – uforudsigelige handlinger.
I et interview med kunstneren Jens-Jørgen Thorsen i 1962 udtalte Gernes den hyppigt
refererede og citerede sætning: “En doktor er til for at reparere en brækket arm, en
cykelsmed for at sætte en ny krank i, en snedker for at reparere et brækket stoleben.
En kunstner er til for at reparere en knækket moral.”5 Gernes ikke blot afviste kunstnerindividdyrkelsen til fordel for det kollektive, han afviste også sin egen rolle som kunstner. Han betragtede i højere grad sig selv som håndværker – en der skulle ’fikse’ den
knækkede moral, og hvis kunst tjente folket til nytte og gavn for samfundet. Og dette
skulle ske gennem et umiddelbart billedsprog med letaflæselige former og rene klare
farver. Det er dette grundlæggende aspekt i Gernes’ værk, den tysk-brasilianske bil­
ledkunstner Janaina Tschäpe (f.1973) finder som en konstant kilde til inspiration i sit
arbejde: “In the same way as Gernes I too am fascinated by form and color, building
my own aesthetic universe that is pleasant and striking to look at […] The idea of an
aesthetic experience, where the carefully chosen colors and shapes visually touch
the person, is inspiring and admirable.”6
Til lejligheden lader vi fødselaren få det sidste ord med et citat fra 1989:
FARVER ER NOGET FORUNDERLIGT NOGET.
Farver har – hvis man bruger dem rigtigt – en positiv og velgørende kraft, der
både kan glæde, opløfte, inspirere og frodiggøre m.m.
... Jeg har ofte hævdet, at det er direkte usundt at leve farveløst.
... Velfarvede miljøer fremmer både velvære, arbejdsindsats, samarbejdsvilje,
medmenneskelighed, identitetsfølelse med meget mere.
... Farveløsheden i vort samfund er uforståelig, ikke mindst ud fra den
1
kendsgerning, at noget af det vi trods alt stadigvæk og helt vilkårligt sætter
Gernes, Poul m.fl.: “Kunst og folk – folkekunst? Om kunstens “levevilkår” og kunstens adskillelse fra vor
dagligdag.”, pp. 3-14; in: Gernes, Poul, Gernes, Aase, Linnet, Ragni, Lorenzen, Ib, Madsen, Inge-Margrethe
mest pris på er farvestrålende. Som f.eks. blomsterne, sommerfuglene,
and Steinicke, Jørgen (red.): NAVNLØS. Skandinavisk kunst og kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, u.å., pp. 7-8.
solnedgangen m.m.7
2
Larsen, Lars Bang: “The Re-Distribution of the Aesthetic: Poul Gernes as Concretist”,
pp. 251-261; in: Luckov, Dirk (red.): Poul Gernes, Snoeck, Køln, 2010.
Bibi Saugman
3
Gernes, Paul: “Spillesystemer eller bare systemer” in: ta’ 2, årgang 1, nr. 2, 1967, p. 18 f.
kurator, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard
4
Pedersen, Jane: Der er dejligt i Danmark, Borgens Forlag, København, 1971, p. 86.
5
Thorsen, Jens-Jørgen: “Broder jeg er søgende” (interview), 15. juli 1962.
6
Janaina Tschäpe, april 2015 (statement).
7
Gernes, Poul: “FØRSTE DELRESULTAT. MUR & RUM”, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi,
København 1989 (intern rapport), pp. 139-44; in: Christiansen, Jesper og Steffensen, Erik (red.):
Malertekster, Det Kgl. Danske Kunstakademis Billedskoler, u.å., pp. 139-40.
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1966-68
Dot painting on blue ground
[PGM-68-007]
Poul Gernes
Untitled (Panum), 1979-80
[PGM-80-001]
Cosima von Bonin
Cosima von Bonin
PAUL THEK, 2000-2014
FLIEGENPILZ, 2000-2014
[CVB-14-002]
[CVB-14-001]
Cosima von Bonin
GEFUEHLE DELIGIEREN, 2014
[CVB-14-003]
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1961-62
Untitled, 1961-62
[PGM-62-010]
[PGM-62-012]
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1961-62
[PGM-62-015]
Callum Innes
Untitled Lamp Black No 23, 2014
[CIM-14-001]
Callum Innes
Untitled Lamp Black No 24, 2014
[CIM-14-002]
Poul Gernes
Untitled (Dot painting), 1966
[PGM-66-004]
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1966
Untitled, 1965
[PGM-66-031]
[PGM-65-034]
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1966
[PGM-66-022]
Flowers for Poul
“We would like to see a thousand flowers blossom, and if possible, hundreds
of styles of art meet and interact, but they must germinate, grow and mature
on the basis of a genuine social engagement that clearly acknowledges that art
also exists to improve and enhance the quality of life for the common good.”
Poul Gernes 1
Poul Gernes was an artist for whom being an artist meant so little, while ­
making art, decorating everyday human environments, meant almost every­­thing. Poul Gernes was born on 19 March 1925 in Frederiksberg, and would
have celebrated his 90th birthday this year if it had not been for his untimely
death on 22 March 1996 in his house in Ekeröd. Over the years, a picture has
been drawn of an artist who, despite his aversion to the role of artist and many
of the mechanisms that surround art, left the impression of being an ‘artist’s
artist’. In this context, we only need remark that it is most often Gernes’ colleagues from Denmark and abroad who ask the gallery to open the door to the
room with the colourful masonite works. It was therefore natural for the gallery
to mark his round-number birthday by asking some of the artists who have over
the years shown a passion for and an interest in Gernes’ work to contribute to
this exhibition, Flowers for Poul.
Flowers for Poul is in its entirety conceived of as an exhibition presenting and
nuancing aspects of Gernes’ oeuvre, focusing on the masonite works, and, in
juxtaposition with works by the invited artists, accentuating other aspects of
Gernes’ work than those usually emphasised. At the same time, it provides – in
today’s upside-down world, where a topic can be spread worldwide before it is
nationally known – an opportunity to present Gernes as an artist of international
stature. Although mainly Denmark-based in his own time, his work has been
ex­hibited post-mortem in such internationally-renowned contexts as documenta
(2007), Deichtorhallen (2010) and Art Basel (2011), to name just a few, and his
work will also fill the halls of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in the spring
of 2016. But the international predicate is perhaps at its most interesting at an
exhibition like this, where the invited artists all have a desire to contribute on the
basis of a profound respect for their colleague, as well as out of love of art.
The title of the exhibition, Flowers for Poul, refers to the simple gesture of giving
Poul Gernes
someone flowers on a special occasion – but it also has connotations with the
Untitled (Panum), 1980
‘flower power’ era, during which the Gernes that most people know today was
[PGM-80-004]
highly productive, and when most of the masonite works in the exhibition were
conceived. Finally, with a reference to the exhibition Flowers for Vejle (Blom-
the texture and materiality of the paint surface. We are reminded of the volatility
ster til Vejle) in 1984, the title reflects Gernes’ penchant for the flower as motif
and lack of given nature of national and regional borders, just as Gernes’ play-
throughout his oeuvre. Although the flower motif only really took off in the mid-
ful series of proposals for a European Community flag in 1972 could be seen as
70s in various decorative projects, it also featured in the 1971 Tin Tin exhibition at
an (ironic) contribution to an imagined community without value: What is it that
Tranegården in the form of a flower bouquet made of cardboard. And even long
unites us Europeans? An ice cream cone? A dove of peace? Perhaps the dove
before that, it turns up in the naturalistic drawings of his youth at the Technical
is the counterpart of the white flag. While Gernes operates in the present – the
School in Copenhagen, where he began his education as a lithographer in 1943.
existing socio-political reality – Fägerskiöld works so to speak in the past tense –
past nations, etc. – but both expose the powerful and communicative function
“The one with all the colours” is how Gernes is probably best known. While
of the flag as a (pseudo-)reality-creating and meaning-bearing symbol.
there have been other artists besides Gernes who have been fond of colours
and eager to use them, most Danes, thanks to Gernes’ countless decorations,
With the ironic and the banal in mind, the round, garish yellow lump by Austrian
would probably remember his name first. What Dane does not know (and have
artist Erwin Wurm (b. 1964) – the sculpture Mind Bubble – Ridicule – sends a fond
an opinion about) the Palace cinema (1989)? Or Herlev Hospital (1968-76)? The
greeting to Gernes’ fabric ball of 1962. The immediacy with which the observer
colours invite us to enter, not into a narrative painting, but into an ethical, socio-
encounters Wurm’s contribution to the exhibition is identical to the quick and
political project, in a playful, exuberant and popular universe where everyday life
easily-read reception that Gernes sought to give the passer-by with his works.
rhymes with well-being, and where pleasure and moderation go hand in hand.
Although the concepts of absurdity and humour are rarely linked to Gernes’ work,
Clashes. The hand, the sense and the presence of the human being in every
they are nonetheless present in his Behinds (‘Ass Pictures’) from 1969, his paper
single masonite work, which from a distance appears clearly graphical and well
performance in 1967, and his aforementioned proposal for a European Commu-
defined, but which close up, in addition to all the unsentimental nail holes, dust,
nity flag: a flag displaying an ice cream cone. Similarly, in the work of German
hair and guide lines, reveals the wavy, crooked contours that only a human hand
artist Cosima von Bonin (b. 1962), textiles, absurdities and childishness are pre-
can create. It is all about the humane and man’s being and well-being in the
sent in rich quantities. In the work GEFÜHLE DELIGIEREN the soft toy – a kind
world.
of crab in municipal brown – is portrayed in three-quarter profile in a completely
white setup, accompanied only by an orange. Both the sea creature and the
The inspiration from geometric abstract art and comparisons with colour field
orange have a hard drop shadow that reinforces the sense of a set-up photo-
painters such as Mark Rothko, Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland, are however
graphic environment. Feelings are delegated – but to whom? By whom? An
unavoidable, despite the feel of the hand in Gernes’ work, given the preference
absurd scene that appears simultaneously anonymised and recognisable, cool
for large colour surfaces and sharply drawn lines. At this exhibition, the Irish art-
and warm, artificial and childish. For Bonin, it is often a question of pointing out
ist Callum Innes (b. 1962) has contributed two paintings that pursue this path in
the existing social structures in an inverted, caricatured universe populated by
2015. Untitled Lamp Black No 23 and Untitled Lamp Black No 24 are monochrome
the creatures of comics, consumption and popular culture.
works in blue and red, respectively, in which the canvas has subsequently been
painted over in black. Half of the black paint has then been removed again with
SUPERFLEX (founded 1993) takes a rather more action-oriented approach to
turpentine, causing two fields to appear. The apparently tight, minimal composi-
the topic. Besides the obvious, purely visual kinship between the group’s two
tion is counterbalanced by the vibrant and physical sensation created by Innes’
work contributions, INFORMATION MACHINE and COMMONS MACHINE (2006),
alternation of additive layers of paint and subtractive technique, which causes
and Gernes’ targets, they share an ethical, political view of art: a belief in art
the picture surface to quiver.
as a catalyst for a better society – the idea that art has an effect on the world.
The welfare state, which for Gernes acts as a kind of re-distribution of aesthetic
In the same tradition we find Paul Fägerskiöld’s (b. 1982) work White Flag (Patriot
goods2, translates for SUPERFLEX into a ‘tools’ concept, in which strategies that
Movement (Lower Canada)). The Swedish artist’s White Flag series consists of a
facilitate economic or copyright-related re-distribution live on their own terms.
number of white monochrome overpaintings of dissolved political entities or geographical demarcations. Besides referring to Jasper Johns’ 1955 monochrome
Colours were a key element in the aesthetic re-distribution for Gernes, as was
of the American flag with the same title, the work can also be viewed politically.
experimentation. With the Ex-school (the Experimental Art School), Gernes
The white overpainting deconstructs the meaning and symbolism that the flag’s
explored various techniques, materials and media, art as a medium and the
colours usually represent. The symbolic value is neutralised and replaced by
institution of art itself – an investigative, inquisitive approach like that of the 1960s
Fluxus movement, which the Swiss artist John Armleder (b. 1948) shared and
Finally, on the occasion of his birthday, we’ll give the last word to Gernes, with a
still lives out today. It is well known that during this period Gernes experimented
quote from 1989:
with colours in his painterly practice on the basis of some stringently systematic
principles, in which chance qua system and the rules of the game were the intend­­
COLOURS ARE STRANGE THINGS
ed result. In the article “Spillesystemer eller bare systemer” (“Game systems or
Colours – if you use them the right way – possess a positive and benevolent
just systems”) in the avant-garde magazine ta’ 2, Gernes expressed it like this:
force that can delight, uplift, inspire and make fertile.
“The goal is to reach unthinkable possibilities and combinations. Conscious
... I have often said that it is directly unhealthy to live a colourless existence.
compositions or composition program­­mes result in uninteresting, transparent,
... Well-coloured environments promote well-being, work, cooperation, compas-
if not entirely empty results. The consciously created only occasionally contains
sion, a sense of identity and much more.
something in which consciousness can find experience.”3 In the article, Gernes
... The colourlessness of our society is incomprehensible, not least in view of
went on to explain the various principles or rules of the game he used in his sys-
the fact that much of what we still, quite arbitrarily, most value is full of colour,
tem paintings, including the ‘lottery principle’ and the ‘colour intensity principle’.
such as flowers, butterflies, sunsets, etc.7
These systems paved the way for a deliberate depersonalisation, and should be
Bibi Saugman
seen in the context of Gernes’ view of the world and the avant-garde project
to break down the hierarchical value system of art, which notoriously should be
Curator, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard
seen as a counterpart to the simultaneous breaking-down of the hierarchical
and vertical order in society, in family life and at the workplace.4 For SUPERFLEX,
the concept of ‘game’ should be understood quite taken literally; there are rules
to be followed, and INFORMATION MACHINE and COMMONS MACHINE are
quite concretely designed in the form of two board games. But while for Gernes
the games systems remain a private tool in the creative process, for SUPERFLEX
the game is extrovert and aimed at the participant and – within the framework of
the game – his or her unpredictable actions.
In an interview with the artist Jens Jørgen Thorsen in 1962, Gernes spoke the
frequently referenced and quoted sentence: “A doctor is there to repair a broken
arm, a bike mechanic to fit a new pedal crank, a carpenter to repair a broken
chair leg. An artist is there to repair broken morality.”5 Gernes not only rejected
worship of the artist as individual in favour of the collective – he also rejected
his own role as an artist. He regarded himself more as a craftsman – someone
whose job it was to ‘fix’ the broken morality, and whose art served the peo-
1
ple for the benefit and well-being of society. And this was to be done through
dagligdag.”, pp. 3-14; in: Gernes, Poul, Gernes, Aase, Linnet, Ragni, Lorenzen, Ib, Madsen, Inge-Margrethe
immediate imagery, with easy-to-read forms and pure, bright colours. It is in this
fundamental aspect of Gernes that the German-Brazilian artist Janaina Tschäpe
Gernes, Poul m.fl.: “Kunst og folk – folkekunst? Om kunstens “levevilkår” og kunstens adskillelse fra vor
and Steinicke, Jørgen (red.): NAVNLØS. Skandinavisk kunst og kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, n.d., pp. 7-8.
2
(b. 1973) finds a constant source of inspiration in her work: “In the same way as
Larsen, Lars Bang: “The Re-Distribution of the Aesthetic: Poul Gernes as Concretist”,
pp. 251-261; in: Luckov, Dirk (red.): Poul Gernes, Snoeck, Køln, 2010.
Gernes, I too am fascinated by form and colour, building my own aesthetic uni-
3
Gernes, Paul: “Spillesystemer eller bare systemer” in: ta’ 2, årgang 1, nr. 2, 1967, p. 18 f.
verse that is pleasant and striking to look at […] The idea of an aesthetic experi-
4
Pedersen, Jane: Der er dejligt i Danmark, Borgens Forlag, København, 1971, p. 86.
ence, where the carefully chosen colours and shapes visually touch the person,
5
Thorsen, Jens-Jørgen: “Broder jeg er søgende” (interview), 15. juli 1962.
is inspiring and admirable.”6
6
Janaina Tschäpe, April 2015 (statement).
7
Gernes, Poul: “FØRSTE DELRESULTAT. MUR & RUM”, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi,
København 1989 (intern rapport), pp. 139-44; in: Christiansen, Jesper og Steffensen, Erik (red.):
Malertekster, Det Kgl. Danske Kunstakademis Billedskoler, u.å., pp. 139-40.
SUPERFLEX
FREE BEER / COUNTER-GAME STRATEGIES /
INFORMATION MACHINE, 2006
[SFO-06-001]
SUPERFLEX
FREE BEER / COUNTER-GAME STRATEGIES /
COMMONS MACHINE, 2006
[SFO-06-002]
Poul Gernes
Untitled (G), 1965
[PGM-65-053]
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1965
Untitled (Target), aprox. 1965
[PGM-65-039]
[PGM-65-125]
John Armleder
Arm 25., 2009
[JAM-09-001]
Poul Gernes
Untitled (tic tac toe painting), 1967
[PGM-67-020]
Poul Gernes
Untitled, 1965
[PGM-65-008]
Biographys
John Armleder
born in 1948, Geneva, Switzerland
Lives and work in Geneva
Cosima von Bonin
born in 1962, Mombasa, Kenia
Lives and work in Cologne
Paul Fägerskiöld
born in 1982, Sweden
Lives and works in Stockholm and New York
Poul Gernes
born in 1925, Frederiksberg, Denmark
and died 1996 in Ekeröd, Sweden
Callum Innes
born in 1962, Edinburgh, Scotland
Lives and works in Edinburgh
SUPERFLEX
founded 1993, Copenhagen, Denmark
Lives and works in Copenhagen
Janaina Tschäpe
born in 1973, Munich, Germany
Lives and works in New York
Erwin Wurm
born in 1954, Bruck an der Mur, Austria
Lives and works in Limberg and Vienna
Poul Gernes
Untitled (Panum), 1979-80
[PGM-80-002]
Flowers for Poul
John Armleder / Cosima von Bonin / Paul Fägerskiöld / Callum Innes /
SUPERFLEX / Janaina Tschäpe / Erwin Wurm – and Poul Gernes
24 April – 20 June 2015
Works / Værker
Callum Innes
Erwin Wurm
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
SUPERFLEX
Untitled Lamp Black No 23,
Mind Bubble – Ridicule, 2008
Untitled (Ice cream cone
Untitled, 1965
Untitled (Target), aprox. 1965
Untitled, 1966-68
FREE BEER / COUNTER-
2014
Styrofoam, acrylic, wool
stitched onto white cloth),
Series with ochre as
Enamel paint on masonite
Dot painting on blue ground
GAME STRATEGIES /
Lamp Black
83 cm x 93 cm x 70 cm
1972
recurring colour
122 cm x 122 cm
Enamel paint on masonite
INFORMATION MACHINE,
Oil on linen
EWS-08-006
Suggestion for a European
Enamel paint on masonite
PGM-65-125
244 cm x 244 cm
2006
Community flag
122 cm x 122 cm
PGM-68-007
Framed wood, laminate and
Janaina Tschäpe
Textile
PGM-65-008
Poul Gernes
Mone, 2012
110 cm x 135 cm
Callum Innes
Mixed media on paper
PGD-72-009
Untitled Lamp Black No 24,
55,9 cm x 76,2 cm
2014
JTZ-12-013
180 cm x 175 cm
CIM-14-001
Lamp Black
drawing
Untitled (Dot painting), 1966
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Enamel paint on masonite
Untitled (Panum), 1979-80
SFO-06-001
Untitled, 1965
122 cm x 122 cm
Enamel paint on masonite
SUPERFLEX
Poul Gernes
Series with four stribes
PGM-66-004
244 cm x 244 cm
FREE BEER / COUNTER-
Untitled, 1961-62
in two colors
PGM-80-001
GAME STRATEGIES /
Oil on linen
John Armleder
Enamel paint on masonite
Enamel paint on masonite
Poul Gernes
180 cm x 175 cm
Arm 25., 2009
61 cm x 61 cm
122 cm x 122 cm
Untitled, 1966
Poul Gernes
Framed wood, laminate,
CIM-14-002
Laquer on aluminum.
PGM-62-010
PGM-65-034
Series with one dot on
Untitled (Panum), 1979-80
spinning tops and drawing
monochrome ground
Enamel paint on masonite
SFO-06-002
100 cm x 100 cm x 5 cm
Cosima von Bonin
JAM-09-001
FLIEGENPILZ, 2000-2014
COMMONS MACHINE, 2006
Poul Gernes
Poul Gernes
Enamel paint on masonite
244 cm x 366 cm
Untitled, 1961-62
Untitled, 1965
122 cm x 122 cm
PGM-80-002
PGM-66-022
C-print
Paul Fägerskiöld
Enamel paint on masonite
Series with four stribes
184 cm x 125 cm; ed. 3
White Flag (Patriote Movement
61 cm x 61 cm
in two colors
CVB-14-001
(Lower Canada)), 2013-2015
PGM-62-012
Enamel paint on masonite
Poul Gernes
Untitled (Panum), 1979
122 cm x 122 cm
Untitled, 1966
Enamel paint on masonite
PGM-65-039
Series with one dot on
244 cm x 244 cm
monochrome ground
PGM-80-003
Oil on canvas
Cosima von Bonin
102 cm x 166 cm
Poul Gernes
PAUL THEK, 2000-2014
PFM-15-001
Untitled, 1961-62
C-print
Poul Gernes
Enamel paint on masonite
Poul Gernes
Enamel paint on masonite
184,0 cm x 123,5 cm; ed. 3
Poul Gernes
61 cm x 61 cm
Untitled (G), 1965
122 cm x 122 cm
Poul Gernes
CVB-14-002
Untitled (cloth bird stitched
PGM-62-015
The Letter Series
PGM-66-031
Untitled (Panum), 1980
onto red cloth (colour faded
Enamel paint on masonite
Cosima von Bonin
with time)), 1972
213 cm x 140 cm
Poul Gernes
Enamel paint on masonite
244 cm x 244 cm
GEFUEHLE DELIGIEREN, 2014
Suggestion for a European
PGM-65-053
Untitled (tic tac toe painting),
PGM-80-004
C-print
Community flag
1967
185 cm x 126 cm; ed. 3
Textile
Enamel paint on masonite
CVB-14-003
111 cm x 137 cm
122 cm x 122 cm
PGD-72-007
PGM-67-020
FLÆSKETORVET 85 A
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© Galleri Bo Bjerggaard
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ISBN 978-87-93134-11-9
Translation Danish to English: Wordmaster
Thanks to Rosendahls
Courtesy of Callum Innes and Frith Street Gallery, London, pp. 20-21
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