Galerie Mikael Andersen would like to welcome you to the opening of the solo exhibition Lack with new paintings and sculptures by Finnish artist Robert Lucander, Friday the 8^th of January 2016, 5-7 pm.  In this exhibition Robert Lucander explores the tension between past and present and the possibility of starting over. By painting over old works – either directly on the canvas or on the glass frames – the original motifs, often guitar players, are covered by abstract colour surfaces, changing the expression of the works. The old image remains partly visible, creating a certain tension between the original motif and the new abstract layers. Here, Lucander also plays with our visual habits: He leaves the original motif visible at the edge of the canvas, moving our focus from the centre to the periphery.

In Lucander’s works not only the colour and motifs of the paintings are of importance; also their surface. The title of the exhibition, Lack, refers to the lacquer used in the works. The special quality of lacquer is its shine; the reflections and play of colours in the lacquer’s surface is at the centre here, giving the works a quality that Lucander himself compares to the sounds and tones of music.  

Robert Lucander (b. 1962) lives and works in Berlin, Germany where he also graduated from Hochschule der Künste in 1995. He is a professor at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and teaches at the Akademie der Bildende Kunste in Vienna and at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.

Photo credits: Jan Søndergaard