SAM VANALLEMEERSCH (BE), MOTOKO DOBASHI (JP), JOAKIM DRESCHER, ZVEN BALSLEV, ELINA MERENMIES (FI), RIKKE VILLADSEN, PETER LARSEN, DANIEL MILAN, FIE NORSKER

The paper could be many things: document, packaging, waste, letter, manuscript, etc. But paper is also a basic artistic medium: something to draw and write on, and, as a blank page, it has immense symbolic meaning. The title of this exhibition thus refers to the paper as both material and symbol; something which is simultaneously both completely banal while also being full of potential.

The artists in the exhibition work with paper as a medium and as an object in many different ways yet they all share very strong figurative and narrative features, often with a serial element in focus. Rikke Villadsen’s pencil drawings take their roots in the comic book, her primary form of expression, and form the beginnings of a strange story. The narrative element recurs in of both Peter Larsen’s and Fie Norsker’s vibrant and compelling universes where the artists use pastel and watercolour respectively.

Daniel Milan will show a new series of fierce and alarming ink drawings under the title S A I L O R while Zven Balslev and Joakim Drescher will show works that share an almost cartoonish approach with artist books and zines playing an important role. Motoko Dobashi’s suspended installation plays with paper as wrapping, as poster and as processed wood while her drawings of strange plant formation invoke an eerie science-fiction-esque sensation, capturing the capability of nature’s dominance over its surroundings.  

Sam Vanallemeersch’s large collage drawings are evocative of both Renaissance war paintings and children’s books like Where’s Wally? with their bustling motifs and rich detail. In Elina Merenmies’s ink drawings, realistic lines blur with more poetic ones in hauntingly beautiful portraits reminiscent of both classical busts and faded passport photographs.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Milan and Felix Rothstein.

Photo credits: Jan Søndergaard