OLAV CHRISTOPHER JENSSEN
Transmontana
27 Apr - 17 Jun 2017
Transmontane, Painting No. 01, 2017, Oil on canvas, 195 x 185 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 06, 2017, Oil on canvas, 195 x 185 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 05, 2017, Oil on canvas, 195 x 185 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 02, 2017, Oil on canvas, 195 x 185 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 20, 2017, Oil on canvas, 72 x 62 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 17, 2017, Oil on canvas, 62 x 52 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 19, 2017, Oil on canvas, 62 x 52 cm
Transmontane, Painting No. 18, 2017, Oil on canvas, 62 x 52 cm
Thomas Rehbein Galerie is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition OLAV CHRISTOPHER JENSSEN, which will be displaying works of the internationally renowned artist for the first time. Born 1954 in Sortland, Norway, Jenssen belongs to the most prominent Scandinavian artists of his generation. His oeuvre encompasses drawings, watercolor paintings, graphic works, book illustrations and books as well as paintings in oil. His approach is characterized by an exploration and appropriation of new methods and techniques, so that the emerging works display an abundance of formal features, revealing a highly elaborate visual language.
Already the initial mark, executed with a brush or a drawing pen, brings forth a creative dynamic continuously propelled by sensual stimulations, calling for free and spontaneous responses. This productive process is guided only by the immediate presence of the artist and his willingness to remain open and susceptible to inspirational impulses.
Similar to a journey, the process of painting discloses surprising paths and unforeseen discoveries, which Jenssen follows with a heightened attentiveness, acknowledging their intrinsic creative value. Guided by an unfailing sensitivity for sudden occurrences and events, Jenssen ́s method thus permits changes of direction and experimental maneuvers.
The scope of Olav Christopher Jenssen ́s artistic idioms is nearly inexhaustible and universal. His method does not obey any set of rules but develops an inexhaustible drive which unfolds in the course of a continuous confrontation with sensual stimulations. Rather than conceiving routes or devising plans to control the course of action, Jenssen, whose artistic origins can be traced back to bookmaking and illustration, opens the pictorial space for painterly interventions and improvisations. Independent of any direct influence or reference, color effects and unbound forms freely unfold and interact. Working on several paintings simultaneously, Jenssens creative flow spreads evenly, not concentrating on a single work, but placing a line, leaving a trace here and there.
Like fleeting notations or slight sketches, such expressions always inherently bear the possibility of remaining incomplete or being altered. Jenssen does not aim to exert control over the emerging works or strive for perfection in their realization. His compositions do not impose a finished result on the viewer, offering instead subtle intimations surrounded by an aura of unveiled secrecy.
Olav Christopher Jenssen lives and works in Berlin and Lya, Sweden. In 2007 he was appointed to a professorship for painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig, an office he holds to this day. His works are included in numerous important public collections worldwide, such as MOMA, New York, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Centre Pompidou, Paris. Significant exhibitions have taken place at the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Kiasma Museum in Helsinki, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Marta Herford and Saarlandmuseum in Saarbrücken, among others.
Already the initial mark, executed with a brush or a drawing pen, brings forth a creative dynamic continuously propelled by sensual stimulations, calling for free and spontaneous responses. This productive process is guided only by the immediate presence of the artist and his willingness to remain open and susceptible to inspirational impulses.
Similar to a journey, the process of painting discloses surprising paths and unforeseen discoveries, which Jenssen follows with a heightened attentiveness, acknowledging their intrinsic creative value. Guided by an unfailing sensitivity for sudden occurrences and events, Jenssen ́s method thus permits changes of direction and experimental maneuvers.
The scope of Olav Christopher Jenssen ́s artistic idioms is nearly inexhaustible and universal. His method does not obey any set of rules but develops an inexhaustible drive which unfolds in the course of a continuous confrontation with sensual stimulations. Rather than conceiving routes or devising plans to control the course of action, Jenssen, whose artistic origins can be traced back to bookmaking and illustration, opens the pictorial space for painterly interventions and improvisations. Independent of any direct influence or reference, color effects and unbound forms freely unfold and interact. Working on several paintings simultaneously, Jenssens creative flow spreads evenly, not concentrating on a single work, but placing a line, leaving a trace here and there.
Like fleeting notations or slight sketches, such expressions always inherently bear the possibility of remaining incomplete or being altered. Jenssen does not aim to exert control over the emerging works or strive for perfection in their realization. His compositions do not impose a finished result on the viewer, offering instead subtle intimations surrounded by an aura of unveiled secrecy.
Olav Christopher Jenssen lives and works in Berlin and Lya, Sweden. In 2007 he was appointed to a professorship for painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig, an office he holds to this day. His works are included in numerous important public collections worldwide, such as MOMA, New York, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Centre Pompidou, Paris. Significant exhibitions have taken place at the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Kiasma Museum in Helsinki, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Marta Herford and Saarlandmuseum in Saarbrücken, among others.