Lars Tygesen presents us with scenes that emanate from former times. Depictions of Rococo motifs resemble stills from period films. The title of the show Love, Never quotes John Malkovich alias Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liasons (Stephen Frears, 1988): "You see, until I met you, I had only ever experienced desire. Love, never.” Though one could call it kitsch, the Vicomte deems it true passion. Let us surrender to temptation, desire, ecstasy and the belief in eternity and beauty. Costumes, interiors, and insights into a person’s private life are the key themes of the Rococo, the period between Baroque and Classicism. It was a counter movement focussing on expressions of intimacy. In contrast to the monumental power and vigor inherent in Baroque style, the Rococo movement offered a more subtle and gentle attitude towards life, combined with elegant, courtly sensuality.

Lars Tygesen’s paintings allow the viewer to enter the private realm. The viewer becomes a voyeur who is invited to learn about secret stories. However, these stories emerge only as half-truths because they consist of illusions. Individuals lack faces; white paint conceals what might otherwise have communicated emotion. Love, never. Lars Tygesen’s figures at once convey presence and absence. His painterly technique produces a pictorial antagonism between space and surface. He constantly alternates between the figurative and the abstract, switching between figure and content, presenting dialogue between composition and decomposition.

Lars Tygesen’s first institutional solo exhibition will take place in November 2008 at the studio of Heidelberger Kunstverein.