Kristian Touborg

Kristian Touborg born in Denmark in 1987. He lives and works in Copenhagen. He obtained an MA in Fine art at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2009-2016).

Artist’s predominantly figurative paintings are composed based upon a democratic use of technical reproduction and reconstruction. In Touborg’s artistic practice the notion of a blank canvas as a starting point for a painting has been replaced by the use of a compilation of digitally printed fabrics and various industrially treated materials and cut up canvasses. These fragments are then assembled through the use of collage techniques hinting at a Dadaistic montage tradition. This allows the viewer to examine each component as it stands out as a particular trace of inspiration, being a certain tactile or optical experience Touborg has collected or photographed only to reproduce it manually or digitally. In Touborg’s paintings the coarse stitching exposes his artistic process, as we can se how he has rearranged the figuration’s context in opposition to the invisible montage, we know from digitally altered images. Standing before a piece our attention is instantly drawn to the unpleasant feeling of cutting up an oil painting, only to rearrange and sew it together once again. As the collected montage of textural fragments is then stretched on frames, which are characterized by their atypical shapes, Touborg renegotiates the two-dimensional space of the canvas further as well as he stresses the ambiguities in the works.

Notable exhibitions include Galleri Jacob Bjørn, Aarhus, Denmark (2018); Roskilde Palæ, Roskilde (2017); A Deep Hum, Copenhagen (2015); Strange Attraction, Aarhus (2015); Bell Jar Tourism, Copenhagen (2014). He also recently participated in several group exhibitions in many international institutes, among which we can remember: Ahs Museum, Videbæk (2018); Sixtyeight Art Institute, Copenhagen (2017); No stereo, Cascais, Portugal (2017); The Hospital, Los Angeles (2016); Taf Art Space, Athens (2016); Taarnby Art Museum, Copenhagen (2016); Den Frie Center for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen (2014). He also won numerous prizes, among which: The danish arts foundation, working grant (2017); Ke prisen 13, the artists’ autumn exhibition 1st prize (2013); Amdrup prize (2010); Nordea art prize (2009). Toubourg has also released several self publications including: A visual data warehouse (2018); Figuration and algorithms (2017); Situationernes sang (2016); A Deep Hum (2015); Bell Jar Tourism (2014).