English
Deutsch
until 02.09. | #3934ARTatBerlin | nüüd.berlin Galerie presents under the title “TWENTIES – golden?” the abstract paintings of artist Bo Larsen, in which he deals painterly with the 1920s of this and the last century.
In Germany, the Golden Twenties were the period between 1924 and 1929 and stand for a heyday of German art, culture and science and, especially in Berlin, for an open, liberal society and a frivolous and licentious nightlife. Before that, life was marked by the end of the First World War, the worst influenza pandemic in history up to that time, hyperinflation and political unrest and upheaval. The parallels to today are striking: pandemic and Ukraine war, inflation and economic crisis – and climate change on top of that.
For Bo Larsen, Berlin – then as now a pulsating metropolis – glitters like a star above the supposed sunny side of (night) life. In fact, however, the gold coating of the imperial or federal capital is flaking off and only conceals a multi-class society that – each for himself – tries to master the vagaries of the times.
Bo Larsen, Hope, 2023, oil, gold chrome, iron, copper, metal pigments, impact metals, oxidiser on canvas, 100 x 80 cm
In his new paintings, Bo Larsen turns his back on the garish colours of his last NEON series and, in addition to oil and acrylic paints, brings gold leaf, impact metals, iron powder and oxidising agents to the canvas. With the combination of these materials, the artist creates works with which he visualises the attitude to life, prosperity and success, but also the rapid rise and fall, superficiality, transience and decay, as well as the associated fears and hopes of these two decades.
For Bo Larsen, the process of painting involves several operations: after applying a metallic background, e.g. gold chrome, he runs iron or copper binder over the canvas in the pouring technique he has already used in his NEON series and works it with an oxidising agent. This creates real rust and copper shavings, whose further development is stopped by the artist with a varnish when they have reached what he considers to be the right “maturity”. Oil paint is squeegeed over these surfaces and finally accents are added with gold leaf and impact metals.
Colourful pictures like GROSSSTADT, on which cheerful life pulsates and literally foams over, contrast with pictures like HEUTE & DAMALS, on which the darkness moves over golden times – or is it hope that glitters on the horizon in front of the supposed abyss? Other works such as HOPE show the contrast of the rather cheerful and colourful oil paint to the rusty-oxidised background, which in the case of DANDY has a downright perky effect befitting its title.
Bo Larsen, Großstadt, 2023, oil, acrylic iron, metal pigments, impact metals, oxidiser on canvas, 100 x 80 cm
Looking at the “TWENTIES – golden?” pictures opens a small window from the present to the past and back and gives an idea that not all that glitters is gold…
Bo Larsen
The German-Danish artist Bo Larsen, born in 1986, was born in Karlsruhe as the third son of a German mother and a Danish father and grew up in Germany.
Through intensive study of the works of his idols, which include Gerhard Richter and Jackson Pollock, the artist, a talented autodidact, has acquired his own knowledge and techniques, from which he has created his own style and further developed his artistic modes of representation.
Bo Larsen’s works open up new dimensions of interpretation of abstract forms to the viewer through multi-faceted colour and form design. His paintings, which can be classified as abstract expressionism, were successfully presented to the public for the first time in 2016/2017 in a solo exhibition on the occasion of the Gallery Weekend Berlin. Furthermore, in 2018 he participated in the group exhibition
Opening: Friday, 23. June 2023, 7pm until 9pm
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 24. June until Saturday, 02. September 2023
Artist talk and guided tour through the exhibition: Saturday, 08. July 2023, 4pm
Finissage with artist talk: Saturday, 02. September 2023, 4pm
To the Gallery
Image caption : Bo Larsen, Today & Then, oil, acrylic, iron, chrome, impact metals, oxidiser on canvas, 100 x 80 cm, 2023
Exhibition Bo Larsen – nüüd.berlin gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Galerien Berlin | ART at Berlin
