Kent Henricksen
25 Jun - 30 Jul 2005
Kent Henricksen
Timeless Pleasures
June 25 – July 30, 2005
Kent Henricksen stitches fabrics on commercial reprints of French Toile de Jouy. He utilizes hoods, masks and linen to portray women and peasants in love, playing children or angels and turns them away from their intended purpose of depicting scenes of carefree harmony. Mounted in florally ornamented frames and on colorful tapestries with various motives, the decadence of baroque expressivity is further intensified.
Utilizing the traditional medium of embroidery, Kent Henricksen works contrarily to the historic convention of partially covering works of art in order to adapt them to the prevailing moral code of the time. The fabrics, inspired iconographically by the French rococo of Boucher or Fragonard lose their light heartedness and uncover new contents precisely as a result of the act of concealment. The depicted, hooded figure acts as a universal symbol to reflect the actions of stigmatized individuals of terrorist or masochistic groups. Apart from personal associations with actual events with a political, religious or sexual motivation, historic components are also brought to bear on the basis of the French printed fabrics, criticizing the reign of absolutism during the times of the baroque and rococo.
Kent Henricksen, born 1974 in New Haven, Connecticut, lives and works in New York. In addition to the participation in a group show in The Moors Space in Miami in September 2005 he will take part in ARS 06 at KIASMA, Helsinki. Kent Henricksen will be present at the opening reception.
In parallel to the solo exhibition “Timeless Pleasures” by Kent Henricksen we are delighted to announce a special exhibition with new works by all artists on the occasion of the 10 th anniversary of the gallery.
Furthermore, we would like to mention the opening of Matthew Ritchie's solo exhibition with Portikus in Frankfurt on the 8th of July 2005.
Timeless Pleasures
June 25 – July 30, 2005
Kent Henricksen stitches fabrics on commercial reprints of French Toile de Jouy. He utilizes hoods, masks and linen to portray women and peasants in love, playing children or angels and turns them away from their intended purpose of depicting scenes of carefree harmony. Mounted in florally ornamented frames and on colorful tapestries with various motives, the decadence of baroque expressivity is further intensified.
Utilizing the traditional medium of embroidery, Kent Henricksen works contrarily to the historic convention of partially covering works of art in order to adapt them to the prevailing moral code of the time. The fabrics, inspired iconographically by the French rococo of Boucher or Fragonard lose their light heartedness and uncover new contents precisely as a result of the act of concealment. The depicted, hooded figure acts as a universal symbol to reflect the actions of stigmatized individuals of terrorist or masochistic groups. Apart from personal associations with actual events with a political, religious or sexual motivation, historic components are also brought to bear on the basis of the French printed fabrics, criticizing the reign of absolutism during the times of the baroque and rococo.
Kent Henricksen, born 1974 in New Haven, Connecticut, lives and works in New York. In addition to the participation in a group show in The Moors Space in Miami in September 2005 he will take part in ARS 06 at KIASMA, Helsinki. Kent Henricksen will be present at the opening reception.
In parallel to the solo exhibition “Timeless Pleasures” by Kent Henricksen we are delighted to announce a special exhibition with new works by all artists on the occasion of the 10 th anniversary of the gallery.
Furthermore, we would like to mention the opening of Matthew Ritchie's solo exhibition with Portikus in Frankfurt on the 8th of July 2005.