S TRATO CALI

ABSALON KIRKEBY | SOLO EXHIBITION

S TRATO CALI <<

Opening: Thursday, 12 May l 2016 | 6 - 8pm

Kreuzstrasse 15, ZURICH, Seefeld

GALLERY | PETRA GUT CONTEMPORARY ZURICH

On the occasion of the first solo exhibition by Absalon Kirkeby we are pleased to present a new series of photographs. Kirkeby’s work reflects the transfer of images from camera to screen and print in a powerful way, making use of digital manipulation of images. Kirkeby invites the viewer to become immersed in colour, line and shape, displaying an eye for detail which is absorbing and tender. The work highlights themes on the opacity and complex experience of life today, offering subtle comments on contemporary society.

The exhibition directs our attention to the co-existence of the lovely and the monstrous. Organic and inorganic bodies, natural and cultural objects cross each other in a turbulent space. The images depict encounters which appear unsettling. They seek out inhospitable, throwaway objects and urban abandonment. Giving a sense of trashy ephemera with a glimmer of functionality, which melts, corrodes and drifts away.

With engagement and precision Kirkeby balances the perfect and the corrupted. In a time that is unfolding as ideological polarisation the series addresses a dystopian undercurrent within modernity's utopian promises. X-rays, objects turned into patterns, traces of language, luminous pinks and turquoises, doors and urban sites all create a sense and narrative of place that elucidates something revelatory. We are presented with an embodied experience of seeing and witnessing the means by which the individual connects to the world and relates to transitions. The exhibition offers a framework of Kirkeby’s investigation of the intimate relations between photography, art history and cinema.

BIOGRAPHY

Absalon Kirkeby (b. 1983) lives in Copenhagen and Leipzig. He studied at Goldsmith and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen where he graduated in 2014. He has participated in numerous group and solo exhibition in Denmark: “Jubiläumsausstellung“ Fotografisk Center; „Vildt Voksende, Den Frie; Afgang, Charlottenborg; Naturkraft, Vejen Kunstmuseum - Poul La Cour Museet, Askov“; „Kbh Kunsthal“, Krabbesholm; „New Danish Photography“, Fotografisk Center. His work is represented in public collections like Statens Kunstfond, Det Nationale Fotomuseum/ The National Museum of Photography (Denmark) and Banco de Espana.

12 MAY 2016 | 6pm | OPENING RECEPTION
13/05 - 04/06/2016 | Opening times: Wed - Fri 11am - 6.30pm, Sat 10 - 4pm

GALLERY | PETRA GUT CONTEMPORARY
Kreuzstrasse 15
Feldeggstrasse 49 (Office)
8008 Zurich
Ph +41 (0) 44 422 40 69
M +41 (0) 79 744 40 69
gallery@petragut.com

ABSALON KIRKEBY | SOLO EXHIBITION

S TRATO CALI <<

Opening: Thursday, 12 May l 2016 | 6 - 8pm

Kreuzstrasse 15, ZURICH, Seefeld

GALLERY | PETRA GUT CONTEMPORARY ZURICH

On the occasion of the first solo exhibition by Absalon Kirkeby we are pleased to present a new series of photographs. Kirkeby’s work reflects the transfer of images from camera to screen and print in a powerful way, making use of digital manipulation of images. Kirkeby invites the viewer to become immersed in colour, line and shape, displaying an eye for detail which is absorbing and tender. The work highlights themes on the opacity and complex experience of life today, offering subtle comments on contemporary society.

The exhibition directs our attention to the co-existence of the lovely and the monstrous. Organic and inorganic bodies, natural and cultural objects cross each other in a turbulent space. The images depict encounters which appear unsettling. They seek out inhospitable, throwaway objects and urban abandonment. Giving a sense of trashy ephemera with a glimmer of functionality, which melts, corrodes and drifts away.

With engagement and precision Kirkeby balances the perfect and the corrupted. In a time that is unfolding as ideological polarisation the series addresses a dystopian undercurrent within modernity's utopian promises. X-rays, objects turned into patterns, traces of language, luminous pinks and turquoises, doors and urban sites all create a sense and narrative of place that elucidates something revelatory. We are presented with an embodied experience of seeing and witnessing the means by which the individual connects to the world and relates to transitions. The exhibition offers a framework of Kirkeby’s investigation of the intimate relations between photography, art history and cinema.

BIOGRAPHY

Absalon Kirkeby (b. 1983) lives in Copenhagen and Leipzig. He studied at Goldsmith and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen where he graduated in 2014. He has participated in numerous group and solo exhibition in Denmark: “Jubiläumsausstellung“ Fotografisk Center; „Vildt Voksende, Den Frie; Afgang, Charlottenborg; Naturkraft, Vejen Kunstmuseum - Poul La Cour Museet, Askov“; „Kbh Kunsthal“, Krabbesholm; „New Danish Photography“, Fotografisk Center. His work is represented in public collections like Statens Kunstfond, Det Nationale Fotomuseum/ The National Museum of Photography (Denmark) and Banco de Espana.

12 MAY 2016 | 6pm | OPENING RECEPTION
13/05 - 04/06/2016 | Opening times: Wed - Fri 11am - 6.30pm, Sat 10 - 4pm

GALLERY | PETRA GUT CONTEMPORARY
Kreuzstrasse 15
Feldeggstrasse 49 (Office)
8008 Zurich
Ph +41 (0) 44 422 40 69
M +41 (0) 79 744 40 69
gallery@petragut.com

www.PETRAGUT.com