Troels Carlsen

Y Gallery is pleased to present The Ten Thousand Things, the first solo exhibition and participation of Danish artist, Troels Carlsen, with the gallery.

Troels Carlsen's visual language is diverse and poetic. Often incorporating interactions with vintage anatomical charts, maps and antique book pages, his work contains continuous visual and conceptual shifts between the biologically charted and the human consciousness. Rather than fostering contradiction, these works beg a curious question, which simultaneously challenges the notion of a given and complete truth whilst hinting that reality could be hiding somewhere behind the apparent foreground. Art historical movements, such as romanticism and symbolism, are paramount inspirational references within Carlsen’s work, juxtaposing the primacy of man with a scientific rationalization of nature.

In a visual setting of human anatomy and folklore illustrations he paints new scenarios atop the former motifs. These scenarios interact playfully with the imagery of the prints, creating puzzling combinations between the past and the present, the old and the new. The Eyes series depicts selections of the 20th century’s most influential artworks as though teleported into scenes of centuries before. Via naturalistic rendering and anthropomorphism, Carlsen calls upon a fascination with the exotic. In a triptych of French anatomy prints, we see human arms and legs morphing into leopard limbs, transforming the scientific into the surreal. The series Not To Change Will Cost More is comprised of 10 antique lithographs of stern looking statesmen disfigured by the insertion of wooden, geometric structures within their faces, thereby bending the conservative authoritarian value of such portraits.

New works by the artist include the large-scale series of 4 oversized “book page” paintings. Holes are torn in the lower part of the page, lifted by a line to reveal huge human hands and feet residing within dark realms. A single bird feather, the orange-colored reflection of fire on a hand, or a paper note left on a green tablecloth subtly hint that something has just happened, a moment that we have missed. These paintings installed within the holes permit us only a voyeuristic glimpse of a larger story. Like A You Or A Me uses a similar technique of revealing only a fraction of an essential part. A classical female nude sits with her knees tucked into the chest of a monkey, painted and placed so that it seems like the curves of the monkeys back melt in with the shape of the woman. The shy gesture of the woman`s sitting position seems to be supported by the guarding expression of the monkey as it glares at viewers from the chart. A wall-mounted, bronze sculptural work presents a human skeleton standing on the edge a diving board, he holds his head between his hands, ready to drop it in to the unknown, perhaps ready pursue a lighter way of life without the weight of our human thoughts.

With his tongue firmly planted in his cheek Troels Carlsen breathes idealism into old pictures and forgotten beings while distorting our social, biological and historical heritage. The almost ritual circumcisions of the works' original motifs allow one cycle of life to move to a new one. Yet the scar remains, reminding us of the past. Is the moment fleeting or part of a greater, ongoing progress?

Troels Carlsen (B. 1973, Denmark) has recently been shortlisted for the Carnegie Art Award 2014. In 2013, his works were part of exhibitions at the Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA, The Hole, New York, USA, Invisible Exports, New York, USA, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco and Davidson Contemporary, New York, USA. In 2013 Carlsen also held his fifth solo exhibition with V1 Gallery in Denmark, and an article documenting the making of those works was published in Juxtapoz magazine. Other exhibitions include solo shows in Valencia, Spain and Berlin, Germany, as well as participation in exhibitions at the AROS Museum and Kunsthallen Nicolaj both in Copenhagen, Denmark. His work is internationally collected and a part of numerous private and permanent collections.