Glenn Sorensen
May 21 – May 25, 2005
Annet Gelink Gallery
Laurierstraat 187 – 189
1016 PL Amsterdam
tel. 31 20 3302066
fax. 31 20 3302065
info@annetgelink.com
Annet Gelink Gallery is proud to present its fourth solo exhibition of Australian artist Glenn Sorensen. Sorensen (*1968, Sydney) lives and works in Åhus, Sweden. His works have previously been shown in Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art in Malmö, the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Skarham and The Royal Acadamy of Arts in London.
Glenn Sorensen paints every day life objects. Nearly all of them come from within his own home: flowers in vases, a nightpalm, a Chinese figure. The subjects from outside his house are either related to friends or family or they are what the artist calls “cover versions” of works by other artists. In this exhibition the painting titled Wolfgang’s Flowers refers to a photograph by Wolfgang Tillmans, the painting titled Building refers to the hospital in which the artist’s wife works. Karate was inspired by a scene at the playground. And yet they give but a glimpse of the private narrative they stand for.
Although not always visible at first glance all the paintings of Glenn Sorensen are figurative. Often the surrounding space seems to move in on the things Sorensen paints. The shapes are slightly blurred as if moving in front of your eyes. This gives them a dreamy appearance. Characteristic colours are mauve, rose, turquoise, dark purplish black, sometimes applied in thick layers.
The paintings of Sorensen possess an almost irresistible intimacy and intensity. This may have something to do with their small format, their humble size. The objects in the paintings are often placed slightly off centre, half cut off by the edge of the canvas, like snapshots or a quick glance. Large parts of the canvas are monochrome background. It seems as if the painter stood still and painted what he found around him giving us an intimate account of the beauty of daily life.
The Bakery: Yael Bartana
In our project space we show photographs by Yael Bartana (1970 Kfar-Yehezkel, IL). Known for her videos as Trembling Time and Kings of the Hill in which she respectively looks at commemorative and social rituals in Israel, Bartana originally started art school studying photography. She kept on photographing besides her filming, carrying a camera with her at all times. This is the first extensive presentation of her photographs.
In Bartana’s photographs, mostly shot in Israel, you can sense the same underlying threat as in her videos. There is a military shooting puppet standing solitary in a dry landscape; a young boy intensely looking at the spectator; two boys during Purim dressed up as a soldier and police man (complete with moustache). Bartana sees herself as an amateur-anthropologist observing her social surrounding. Her documents of local situations indicate their universal implications. The pictures become allegories open to the viewer’s own interpretation.
Yael Bartana is one of the four nominees for this year’s Dutch Prix de Rome. From June 2 until August 7 two new videos by Yael Bartana will be presented along with the works of all nominees at Stichting de Appel in Amsterdam.From May 19 until September 5 Bartana’s videos Trembling Time and Low Relief II will be shown at Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin as part of the exhibition The Hebrews, 100 Years of Culture in Israel.
Annet Gelink Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information please contact Julia Schleyerbach or Floor Wullems, 020-3302066 or Info@annetgelink.com
