Bright Beneath
From December 9 2021 to February 5 2022, NOVO Milano is pleased to present “Bright Beneath”, the first solo show in Milan by Kristian Touborg. Previously exhibited within Eduardo Secci’s program, the exhibition is the second project dedicated to the work of the young Danish artist. Shifting away from the emphasis on sculptural approaches to painting that have informed recent exhibitions, for this new body of work the artist returns to a more intimately figurative and narrative style, situated within a richly saturated emotional environment. Whilst continuing to combine synthetic materials, oil painting technique and digital tools, Kristian Touborg’s core practice – with its focus on materiality and spatial presence – turns its attention towards complex inner dimensions rather than the general qualities derived from the study of forms. Motifs from the Touborg’s’s daily life are elevated to the status of symbols, gaining universal psychological and emotional significance in the process. Elements of the uncanny and the mysterious are blended with humor and a sense of tranquility to create a complex but coherent visual language. These works are filled with references to the artist’s boyhood and to the familial sphere. However the division between truth and the imaginary is blurred and the paintings revel in the dance between abstraction and figuration, digital and painterly sensibilities and existential concerns with death and celebrations of life. The cumulative effect is akin to something of an aesthetic synesthesia. Driven by a democratic use of technical reproduction and reconstruction, Kristian Touborg’s artistic practice involves the merging of physical and digital contexts. Drawings integrate with phone photographs, which are then rendered, printed onto fabrics and painted over. Through such a process Touborg renegotiates the typical understanding of various techniques associated with image sharing and editing tools.
From December 9 2021 to February 5 2022, NOVO Milano is pleased to present “Bright Beneath”, the first solo show in Milan by Kristian Touborg. Previously exhibited within Eduardo Secci’s program, the exhibition is the second project dedicated to the work of the young Danish artist. Shifting away from the emphasis on sculptural approaches to painting that have informed recent exhibitions, for this new body of work the artist returns to a more intimately figurative and narrative style, situated within a richly saturated emotional environment. Whilst continuing to combine synthetic materials, oil painting technique and digital tools, Kristian Touborg’s core practice – with its focus on materiality and spatial presence – turns its attention towards complex inner dimensions rather than the general qualities derived from the study of forms. Motifs from the Touborg’s’s daily life are elevated to the status of symbols, gaining universal psychological and emotional significance in the process. Elements of the uncanny and the mysterious are blended with humor and a sense of tranquility to create a complex but coherent visual language. These works are filled with references to the artist’s boyhood and to the familial sphere. However the division between truth and the imaginary is blurred and the paintings revel in the dance between abstraction and figuration, digital and painterly sensibilities and existential concerns with death and celebrations of life. The cumulative effect is akin to something of an aesthetic synesthesia. Driven by a democratic use of technical reproduction and reconstruction, Kristian Touborg’s artistic practice involves the merging of physical and digital contexts. Drawings integrate with phone photographs, which are then rendered, printed onto fabrics and painted over. Through such a process Touborg renegotiates the typical understanding of various techniques associated with image sharing and editing tools.
Kristian Touborg, Every, 2021Oil, acrylic, sublimation dye and artificial petals on polyester
197 x 161 cm
77 1/2 x 63 3/8 in
Kristian Touborg, Mirror Image (Conversion, Inversion), 2021Oil, acrylic, sublimation dye and artificial petals on polyester
170 x 120 cm
66 7/8 x 47 1/4 in
Kristian Touborg, Pond Portal (Bell Flower), 2021Oil, acrylic and sublimation dye on polyester and reflective fabric
85 x 60 cm
33 1/2 x 23 5/8 in
Kristian Touborg, Futura Fossil (Moonlight), 2021Oil, acrylic and sublimation dye on polyester and reflective fabric
85 x 60 cm
33 1/2 x 23 5/8 in
Kristian Touborg, Bright Beneath, 2021Oil, acrylic, sublimation dye and artificial petals on polyester
170 x 210 cm
66 7/8 x 82 5/8 in
Kristian Touborg, One Pool Twice, Two Drops At Once, 2021Oil, acrylic and sublimation dye on polyester and reflective fabric
87 x 122 cm
34 1/4 x 48 1/8 in
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).
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).
- Claire Fontaine
