Caribic
Frans Jacobi
Stalke Galleri, Vesterbrogade 14 A
29.8. to 20.9.1997
Frans Jacobi’s exhibition CARIBIC was a suite of photographs, drawings, video, and sound—a reflection on 21 tropical nights and the diverse impressions encountered along the way.
The exhibition consisted of a series of smaller individual works, installed in the gallery as a cohesive, meandering passage through a dark and heated atmosphere.
The exhibition was produced “on the road” in Central America and the Caribbean in July 1997.
Around the same period, Frans Jacobi had installed the work INVERTED SUMMER (Room 25) at the exhibition HEMart97 in Norway and was later featured at the Louisiana exhibition with THE HOUSE AT 4 AM (Room 23). Furthermore, in November, the work (Room 22) was presented at the Berlin Fair, which Stalke Galleri was also pleased to present.
Frans Jacobi, Caribic, Stalke Galleri. Exhibition view
Reviews
The exhibition Caribic was reviewed in the Danish press, where critics highlighted its restrained and atmospheric approach.
In one review, Malene La Cour notes that the exhibition communicates through suggestion rather than explanation. She describes the space as marked by “a manic presence” and observes how the works leave behind “heavy and empty traces,” giving the exhibition an “oddly unresolved” quality.
In another review, Simon Sheikh emphasizes that the exhibition is not concerned with travel as movement, but with staying in place. He points out that it is “the state of stillness and repetition, as expressed in the hotel room,” that forms the core of the exhibition. The works appear as travel memories in the form of “souvenirs and snapshots,” without a conventional narrative.
Both reviewers underline that the exhibition is personal without becoming autobiographical. As Sheikh writes, Jacobi succeeds in being “private without being personal,” allowing mood and absence to take precedence over explicit storytelling.
