Ominous Aura

New works by Torben Ebbesen

Galleri Stalke. Vesterbrogade 15, Copenhagen V. Tue–Fri 14:00–17:30, Sat 12:00–15:00. Until 12 September.

Torben Ebbesen, who is always an active exhibitor, has been especially relevant this summer, representing Denmark at the Venice Biennale with the installation Strange Water, previously mentioned in Politiken (on display until 30 September)

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Currently, Galleri Stalke is showing his very latest works, several of which are of a somewhat different character than earlier ones. The centerpiece is a metal drum with a shadowy protrusion, covered with panels. The effect is ascetic and mechanical, evoking double associations of decay/new growth, which as a rule is an important component of Ebbesen’s works. The installation, which is combined with a large, metaphysical-looking, glossy photograph, also features "spots," made from metal and blue millimeter paper. It is more stringent than before and with a somewhat ominous aura of being infected by strange, indeterminate objects.

Opposite, nine paintings hang under the shared title Empty Houses. These lightly sketched buildings have a Japanese inspiration but appear almost universal in their anonymity, patched up with a pale yellow sulfur-like material, which reinforces their dreamlike character. The paintings are emphasized by a frieze of white tiles below, often used in Ebbesen's installations to paradoxically introduce something clinical, which is both stately present and distantly detached. The atmosphere might remind one a bit of Hopper's almost surreal and strangely unreal American images from the turn of the century, but here they are detached from time and place. They point as much forward toward an unknown period as backward.

The remaining collages and installations are extensions of earlier works. The individual parts are extremely concrete but create, in their use of unknown movements, material with immaterial signals. They still revolve around the concept of energy, the relationship between eras, between matter and spirit. But they are under transformation, simpler and stricter in their means.

HELLEN LASSEN

Politiken 6.9.1990

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