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White Cube Gallery, London, this august, an unmissable exhibition showcases Danish artist Sergej Jensen’s vision of what could be the last 20 minutes of 2001.

 

Aftercare by Sergej Jensen

Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: "A Space in Odyssey" (1968). Follow the same journey as Dave Bowman, Kubrick’s hero and travel beyond the infinite. Land somewhere out of space and discover the prosaic realities of our day-to-day life. Far from expressing a strange or yet unrevealed drama, Sergej gives us the opportunity to have a surgical look at the world around us. Feeling as if we did not belong to earth and therefore feeling useless helps us to understand the essential aspect of the space surrounding us.
A futuristic ambiance for a present experience. Looking at Postauthentic times made of dark grey painted linen stripes made me think of "La Nausée" by Jean-Paul Sartre "Everything is gratuitous, this garden, this city and myself. When you suddenly realize it, it makes you feel sick and everything begins to drift...that's nausea." Standing in front of a precipice and suddenly be held back and endure a loose form of constructivism = my last twenty minutes of 2001.

 

Deutsche Bank 2010, Sergej Jensen

For Jensen, "The picture frame is not only the frame around the picture, but also the room it hangs in" and this exploration continues through the movie series, “Method Living” shot in Jensen’s studio-cum-apartment in Berlin. Full of contradictions, the artist admits that his first thought for this exhibition was to describe and illustrate what comes after these last 20 minutes. The concept behind his work is to cut on the dramatic side of Kubric’s vision, downsize it to make it concrete and more real.

 

Untitled by Sergej Jensen

Jensen focuses on the moment, on the experience the viewer has when discovering his canvas featuring bandages and dark muted tones. Texture seems important; the paintings are not flat and therefore take part of the volumes conflicting in the gallery space.

 

Postauthentic times by Sergej Jensen

Not a fan of forward thinking and planning Sergej Jensen go through his work once completed. Is it to put a final touch or end to it? Is it because creative actions should not be hindered by chaotic and random thoughts? Anyhow, The Last Twenty Minutes of 2001 are done, their outcome settled, only the post scriptum remains to be written, the pen is yours.

 

Spaceship windows by Sergej Jensen

Sergej Jensen was born in Denmark, and lives and works in Berlin, Germany.  He has exhibited internationally including solo exhibitions at Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2007), Konsthall Malmö (2008), Bergen Kunsthalle (2008) and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2009). Major group exhibitions include 'Of Mice and Men', Berlin Biennial (2006), 'Momentum Nordic Festival of Contemporary Art', Moss, Norway (2006) and the São Paulo Biennial (2004). Jensen will have his first major solo exhibition in the US at the Aspen Art Museum from 30 July till 3 October 2010.

 

Things they said that I saw by Sergej Jensen

Sergej Jensen
The Last Twenty Minutes of 2001
White Cube Mason’s Yard
16 July – 28 August 2010
25-26 Mason’s Yard St Jame’s
London SW1Y 6BBU United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7930 5373
www.whitecube.com

 

Text by Delphine Hervieu.

Source: www.whitecube.com, www.dazeddigital.com

TAGS: White Cube London gallery art exhibition The Last Twenty Minutes of 2001 stanley kubrick 2001: Odyssey Douglas Hyde Galler Konsthall Malmö Bergen KW Institute for Contemporary Art Kunsthalle Of Mice and Men Momentum Nordic Festival of Contemporary Art São Paulo Biennial Aspen Art Museum Method Living White Cube Mason’s Yard danish denmark la Nausea Jean-Paul Sartre