1.3.-28.4.13
Galleri Opdahl, Stavanger
Installations, paintings
In a wonderful dual exhibition of two quite different artists, things are not as they seem. Here is a game with materials, colors, balance and most of all appearance. Vera Kox uses strong materials to appear as fragile, soft material to appear as hard, heavy material to appear as heavy. Dag Erik Elgin lets painting appear as something else than a painting, and uses something else than a painting to represent paintings.
Exhibition view
Vera Kox's works are of bright colors and seemingly coincidential form. A splash of foam or icecream on a tall pole is really made of metal. A blue tablecloth or bathroom rug is really made of plaster. And a solid wrap of something solid with some liquid seeping out is really painted foam with solid details. Somthing that seems like candlewax may break in two any time, but is actually made of some very stable kind of plastic.
Vera Kox: Temporary forms and permanent doubts + Dag Erik Elgin: Körper die ewig verschwinden
Dag Erik Elgin's works are not what they seem, or rather exactly what they seem. A title sign that used to belong to a picture, the transport box for the same picture, are painted in detail. Not only as a representation of the actual picture, but as individual pieces of art. In a chaotic mesh of white lines, German criterias for art aestethics are written. Nobody can claim that this picture lacks these features, it is there, written letter by letter.
Vera Kox: Temporary forms and permanent doubts
Vera Kox: Temporary forms and permanent doubts
Vera Kox: Temporary forms and permanent doubts
Dag Erik Elgin: Nicolas de Stäel, Composition No 1 (verso)
This is a wonderful experiment of combining two very different artists. Each artist's part of the exhibition is great, but together there is synergy created.
