Galerie Mikael Andersen would like to welcome you to the opening of Kathrine Ærtebjerg’s solo exhibition The Invisible Poem with new paintings, drawings and an artist book, Thursday the 12th of May 2016, 4-7pm. 

Kathrine Ærtebjerg’s paintings and drawings all revolve around the poem. Not in the sense of a specific text, but in attributing a certain significance to the random and commonplace. With The Invisible Poem, Kathrine Ærtebjerg has created a poetic universe, at the same time minimal and wild. The works focus around themes of body and gender, identity and sexuality; where the meaning behind the works are found as much in the act of painting or drawing as in the motifs themselves. 

Simple and easily recognizable motifs – the girl, the pregnant woman, flowers, lips recur in Kathrine Ærtebjerg’s works and mix with more abstract forms such as the circle, the oval and the wavy line. Thus, a visual space is created, where contrasts and repetitions shift and blend into one another. The motifs in the paintings are often scratched directly into the surface, and the words written directly in the paint. The contact between the hand and the painting is both gentle and carefully controlled, and in the exhibition’s almost minimalist drawings graphite dust, eraser rubber and pencil suggests bodies, landscapes and childish, animal-like figures.

In connection with the opening there will be reception for the book release of the British poet Christina Rossetti’s (1830-1894) poem Goblin Market. The book is translated by Danish author Merete Pryds Helle and features drawings by Kathrine Ærtebjerg. The original drawings from the book will be shown in the front office of the gallery. 

Photo credits: Jan Søndergaard