Poul Gernes: Retrospective

Cat. Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Exhibition catalogue, edited by Dirk Luckow
texts (German/English) by Troels Andersen, Belinda Grace Gardner, Lars Bang Larsen, Dirk Luckow, Tania Ørum, Noemi Smolik
280 p. with 500 color illustrations
270 x 240 mm, cloth bound with double folded dustjacket

ISBN 978-3-940953-55-1

(out of print)

Hippyesque minimalism

»His work is an unorthodox mixture of hippyesque minimalism, conceptual craftsmanship, and social ethics with a Pop affinity« according to the edition of SPEX in September 2010.
Only during the past decade has a wider audience started to take notice of the great Danish artist Poul Gernes, who was born in 1925 and died in 1996, whereby it must be said that the catalyst for this was the integrated exhibition by Cosima von Bonin. By contrast, Poul Gernes’s work is ubiquitous in Denmark, and is simply impossible to overlook on account of the 150 artistic designs of interiors and exteriors, situated around the country.
This artist, who co-founded the Eks-Skolen in 1960, was always generally critical, that is to say hostile, towards the art market, preferring to see his works in a more public dialogue than in a gallery. Thus, his work is heavily influenced by forerunners from art history such as Cézanne, and McCracken, yet conversely, his 122 x 122 cms target paintings, and the striped paintings, flags, and sculptures can be found in a transmuted form in the work of younger fellow artists.
It is high time that a large retrospective show and an extensive catalogue made the work of this extremely independent modernizer accessible to a wider audience and traced the diversity of his influence.

Exhibitions:
Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, 8/10/2010–16/1/2011
Malmö Konsthall & Lund Konsthall, 20/5–21/8/2011