Anna Bjerger Silence

En diamant er også et kvadrat

Anna Bjerger – en introduktion

Tidligere hørte jeg det hele tiden: Det er ikke en typisk Anna Bjerger.

Nej, det er det ikke. Ah, det dér er en typisk Anna Bjerger. Nej, det

er det ikke. Ingen af dem er. Der findes ikke et typisk Anna Bjerger-

maleri. Folk ser de temaer, de vil se. For nogle maler hun skove og

bjerge, for andre er det malerier af piger. Annas motivvalg er vidt-

spændende. Ja, hun maler portrætter og landskaber, men hun maler

også toiletruller. Når hun rent faktisk maler solnedgange og andre til-

syneladende let tilgængelige motiver, er det sandsynligvis af en helt

anden årsag, end vi tror. På Silence, hendes første udstilling i Galleri

Bo Bjerggaard, finder vi hendes sædvanlige forskelligartede gruppe

af billeder. Disse er nogle af billederne på udstillingen: en figur dækket

af et mønstret håndklæde (Shape, 2019), en gruppe svømmere set

ovenfra (Swimmers, 2019), en skarpt belyst statuette af en nøgen

pige, der holder en hund op i luften med fødderne (Rococo, 2019).

Alle i hver sin størrelse og skala. Hvad binder disse værker sammen?

Hvad er fælles for disse tilsyneladende tilfældige motiver?

Bjerger arbejder i serier; de billeder, der vises sammen på en sepa-

ratudstilling, er lavet specielt til at blive vist sammen. De er ikke en

samling af individuelle værker malet i løbet af et udefineret tidsrum

før udstillingen. ”Ah, en separatudstilling. Okay, jeg skal se, hvad jeg

har i atelieret.” Nej. Det modsatte. Invitationen til at planlægge en

udstilling er starten på en proces, begyndelsen til et nyt sæt malerier,

der skal laves specielt til det sted, den kontekst, baseret på de tanker

og kunstneriske overvejelser, som hun gør sig på det tidspunkt. Den

er indledningen til en periode på flere uger, måske måneder, med at

forske, læse, kigge, sidde og tænke. Med at finde ind til kernen i en

idé. Gennemgå bunkerne af gamle bøger og blade, der dækker halv-

delen af gulvet i hendes atelier, for at finde billeder at arbejde ud fra.

Redigere, forkaste, forfine temaerne og idéerne til den nye gruppe bil-

leder. Først da kan maleprocessen begynde. Dette er ofte svært at

se for den, der besøger en udstilling med hendes værker, fordi de kan

virke som en tilfældig samling af motiver.

Hvad har vi så her i Silence? Hvad tænkte kunstneren på i atelieret,

før hun malede en tennisbold og en gruppe svømmere, beregnet til

at blive vist sammen? Hendes malerier begynder ofte med en formel

overvejelse. Hvor er beskueren i forhold til billedet? Hvad er vores

rolle eller vores relation til billedet? Somme tider er beskueren og

dennes placering i forhold til billedet selve temaet, hvilket gør os til

ubevidste medspillere. Ofte er temaet en malerisk udfordring eller

konvention. Hendes udstilling med titlen Elsewhere i mit gamle galleri

havde en tæt, klaustrofobisk atmosfære, som var svær at definere.

Det var først, da det gik op for mig, at ingen af billederne havde en

horisont, at det blev klart; der var ingen distance i billederne, ingen

luft at indånde. Den globale situation på det tidspunkt havde fungeret

som katalysator for gruppen af værker. En følelse af fortvivlelse, af

desperation. Nyhedsudsendelserne var fulde af billeder af flygtninge,

hjemløse mennesker, der vandrede afsted uden håb i store grupper

og søgte efter et sted at slå sig ned. Trump var lige blevet valgt.

Brexit lå i kortene. Hvordan kunne nogen se op? Hvordan kunne vi

se mere end et par meter, et par dage frem?

Den nye gruppe værker, Silence, går ud fra en tilsyneladende enkel

præmis: Alle billederne er kvadratiske i format. Det lyder da simpelt

nok, malerier er jo kvadratiske, ikke? Sådan cirka i hvert fald. Hvad

er problemet? Kvadratiske malerier er faktisk sjældne. Især kvadrati-

ske figurative malerier. Som Anna sagde til mig i sit atelier: Et vandret

rektangel (landskabsformat) eller et lodret rektangel (portrætformat)

indbyder til et bestemt motiv. Tegn en linje, og overfladen bliver til et

sted. Tegn en linje på et rektangel, og det er en horisont. Tegn en

linje på et kvadrat, og det er bare en linje. Rektanglet med sit land-

skabs- eller portrætformat har ifølge sin natur et indbygget motiv.

Kvadratet indbyder ikke på samme måde til et motiv; det er allerede

perfekt. Der er en udfordring. Et problem, der skal løses. Hvad maler

man, når man kan male hvad som helst? Hvor begynder man? Kunst-

nere er ikke ligesom designere; de får ikke en opgave. De har ikke en

kunde, der giver dem et budskab at udbrede og en målgruppe at nå,

et budget og en række farver og et logo til at sætte i hjørnet. Kunst-

nere kommer ind i et tomt atelier, møder et tomt lærred og skal ska-

be noget, et eller andet. Dette fravær af grænser kan være overvæl-

dende. For mange valgmuligheder kan gøre os passive. De virker

lammende.

Når man kan skabe hvad som helst, er det umuligt at vide, hvor man

skal ende og begynde. Derfor sætter kunstnere kasser op, som de

kan arbejde inden for. De laver regler og sætter grænser. Keith Tyson

opfandt the Art Machine, som fortalte ham, hvad han skulle lave, fra-

tog ham hans personlige kunstneriske valg. Han blev dens slave og

lavede det, den beordrede ham til, uden at stille spørgsmål. John Kør-

ner taler om problemer. Han betragter det at male et billede som at

løse en række problemer.

Så nu har Anna sit problem, kvadratet. Dette åbner potentialet for

motivvalg og billedskabelse. Hvad kan man presse ind i den firkant?

Forskningsprocessen starter. Anna begyndte at kigge på andre male-

re, der arbejder med det kvadratiske format, Agnes Martin, Kazimir

Malevich, Robert Ryman. Alle sammen abstrakte malere. Dette svarer

til hendes tanke om, at kvadratet er perfekt i sig selv. Disse abstrakte

malere tenderer henimod minimalismen og bruger monokrome eller

reducerede farvepaletter og meditative eller transcendente temaer.

Kvadratet er halvdelen af kampen. Det udgør et ikke-sted, en tom-

hed, som giver maleren en neutral zone at arbejde i, så længe det

ikke bliver provokeret af et indhold eller noget uvedkommende.

Den figurative maler, Bjerger fandt, der havde brugt kvadratet regel-

mæssigt, var Balthus. Den ubekvemme. Jeg havde ikke bemærket

hans hyppige brug af kvadratet, før hun gjorde mig opmærksom på

den. Det ubehagelige ved hans motiver (og vores ubehag ved at se

på dem) bliver forstærket ved, at de er klemt ind mellem disse fire lige

lange sider. Der er ikke nogen længere side at slappe af ved, ikke nog -

et fjernt hjørne at række ud efter. Motivet ligger ikke behageligt i kva-

drater, som det gør i rektangler. Der er en albue, der stikker ud her,

et spidst knæ, der rager frem der. Dette blev på en vis måde Annas

motiv. Ensomme figurer, nogle gange i grupper, tilsyneladende ikke

opmærksomme på hinanden. Malerierne startede med geometriske

former og deres relation til kvadratet, et forsøg på at finde en balance

i abstrakt forstand. En trekant inde i firkanten, en bold, en diagonal

linje, der skærer billedplanet over. Men det var den menneskelige

skikkelse inde i kvadratet, der blev det dominerende tema. Hvordan

passer mennesker ind? Deres følelse af ubehag og isolation blev for-

stærket af formatet. Ligesom Balthus’ figurer havde de ingen steder

at gemme sig. De figurer, der indgår i grupper, virker endnu mere

ensomme end dem, der er alene. Ingen af personerne her er udstillet.

De har bestemt ikke plads til os, ingen interesse i at charmere eller

engagere os. Vi er i bedste fald til ulejlighed eller til besvær. De vil bli-

ve ved med det, de gør, ubekvemt, aldrig veltilpasse i rammen, uden

hensyn til os, in Silence.

David Risley

Square, 2019

[ABM-19-005]

Rock, 2019

[ABM-19-016]

Pose, 2019

[ABM-19-009]

Rest, 2019

[ABM-19-008]

Swimmers, 2019

[ABM-19-002 ]

Coast, 2019

[ABM-19-015]

Gaze, 2019

[ABM-19-007]

Coat, 2019

[ABM-19-003]

Glanze, 2019

[ABM-19-010]

Stretch, 2019

[ABM-19-011]

Felt, 2019

[ABM-19-012]

Bench, 2019

[ABM-19-017]

Spiral, 2019

[ABM-19-004]

Shape, 2019

[ABM-19-001]

Rococo, 2019

[ABM-19-006]

Diagonal, 2019

[ABM-19-013]

Fingers, 2019

[ABM-19-014]

A Diamond is a Square too

Anna Bjerger, An Introductory Guide

I used to hear it all the time. That’s not a typical Anna Bjerger. No, it’s

not. Ah, that is a typical Anna Bjerger. No, it’s not. None of them are.

There isn’t a typical Anna Bjerger painting. People see the themes

they want to see. To some, she paints forests and mountains, to some

it’s paintings of girls. Anna’s subject matter is wide ranging. Yes, she

paints portraits and landscapes but she also paints toilet rolls. When

she does paint sunsets or other seemingly easily accessible subjects,

it’s probably for a very different reason than we imagine. In Silence,

her first exhibition at Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, there is her usual diverse

group of images. These are some of the paintings in the show; a fig-

ure covered in a patterned towel (Shape, 2019). A group of swimmers

seen from above (Swimmers, 2019). A harshly lit statuette of a naked

girl holding a dog in the air with her feet (Rococo, 2019). A tennis ball

(Felt, 2019). All in different sizes and scales. What brings these works

together? What unifies these seemingly random themes?

Bjerger works in series, the paintings shown together as a solo exhi-

bition are made specifically to be shown together. They aren’t a gath-

ering up of individual paintings made over an undefined period of time

leading up to the show, ”Oh, a solo show, ok, I’ll see what I have in

the studio”. No. The opposite. The invitation to schedule an exhibition

is the start of a process, the beginning of a new set of paintings, to

be made precisely for that space, that context, based on the thoughts

and painterly concerns she is working through at that moment. Weeks,

possibly months, of research begins, reading, looking, sitting, thinking.

Finding the kernel of an idea. Sifting through the piles of old books

and magazines which cover half of her studio floor, finding images to

work from. Editing, rejecting, refining the themes and ideas for the

new group of paintings. Then and only then, can the painting process

start. This is often hard for the viewer to see when confronted with an

exhibition of her work, which can seem like a random collection of

subjects.

So, what do we have here, in Silence? What was she thinking about in

the studio before making a painting of a tennis ball and one of a group

of swimmers, specifically to be shown together? Her paintings often

start with a formal concern. Where is the viewer in relation to the

image? What is our role or relationship to the image? Sometimes the

viewer and their position in relation to the image is the theme, making

us unknowingly complicit. Often, the theme is a painterly challenge

or convention. Her show, Elsewhere, at my old gallery, had a tight,

claustrophobic feeling which was difficult to pinpoint. It was only upon

realising that none of the paintings had horizons that it became clear,

there was no distance in the paintings, no air to breathe. The global

situation at the time had acted as the catalyst for that body of work.

A feeling of despair, of desperation. The news cycle was filled with

images of refugees, homeless, marching hopelessly in large groups,

looking for a place to settle. Trump had just been elected. Brexit was

on the cards. How could anybody look up? How could we see past

the few metres, or few days ahead of us?

This new body of work, Silence, starts with a seemingly simple prem-

ise. The paintings are all square in format. Sounds simple, right, paint-

ings are square aren’t they? Square-ish? What’s the problem? Square

paintings are actually rare. Particularly square figurative paintings.

As Anna said to me in her studio, a horizontal rectangle (landscape

format) or vertical rectangle (portrait format) invite a motif, make a

line and the surface becomes a place. Paint a line in a rectangle and

it’s a horizon. Make a line in a square and it’s just a line. The rectan-

gle with its landscape or portrait format has, in its nature, an intrinsic

motif. The square does not invite motifs in the same way, it is already

perfect. There is a challenge. A problem to overcome. What do you

paint when you can paint anything? Where do you start? Artists are not

like designers, they don’t get a brief. They don’t have a client giving

them a message to convey and a target audience to reach, a budget

and a set of colours and a logo to put in the corner. Painters turn up

to an empty studio to face an empty surface and have to make some -

thing, anything. This absence of limits can be overwhelming. Too much

choice can make us catatonic. It’s paralysing.

When you can make anything it’s impossible to know where to begin.

So, artists set up boxes to work within. They make rules and set lim-

its. Keith Tyson came up with the Art Machine which told him what

to make, removing his personal artistic choice. He became it’s slave,

making whatever it ordered, without question. John Kørner talks of

problems. He considers the act of making a painting as a series of

problems to be solved.

So now Anna has her problem, the square. This opens up the poten-

tial of subject matter and image making. What to squeeze into that

square? The research process begins. Anna started to look at other

artists who work with the square, Agnes Martin, Kazimir Malevich,

Robert Ryman. All abstract painters. This echoes her idea of the square

having an innate perfection. These abstract painters tend towards

minimalism, using monochromatic or reduced palettes, meditative or

trancendent themes. The square is half the battle. It embodies a none-

place, an emptiness, which provides a painter with a neutral zone to

work within, as long as it is not provoked by content or anything off-

kilter.

The figurative painter Bjerger found who used the square regularly

was Balthus. Mr Awkard.I hadn’t noticed his repeated use of the

square until she pointed it out to me. The discomfort of his subjects

(and our discomfort in viewing them) is amplified by squeezing them

into those 4 equal sides. There is no longer edge to relax into, no far

corner to reach for. Images don’t sit comfortably in squares the way

they do in rectangles. There’s an elbow sticking out here, a sharp

knee jutting there. In a way, this became the subject for Anna. Lone

figures, some of them in groups, seemingly unaware of each other.

The paintings started with geometric forms and their relation to the

square, trying to find a balance, in abstract terms. A triangle within a

square, a ball, a diagonal line dissecting the picture plane. It was the

human figure within the square though, which became the dominant

theme. How do people fit in? Their sense of discomfort and isolation

was highlighted by the format. They, like Balthus’ subjects, had now -

here to hide. The figures within groups seem even more alone than

those on their own. None of the individuals here are on display. They

certainly have no place for us, no interest in charming or engaging

us. We are, at best, an inconvenience or an annoyance. They will be

getting on with whatever it is they are doing, uncomfortably, never

settling into their frame, regardless of us, in Silence.

David Risley

Absence (Looking for Hammershøi), David Risley

Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

2012 Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, IE

Up the Walls, The Model, Sligo, IE

Pigment, Peter Bergman, Stockholm, SE

Anna Bjerger & Søren Martinsen, Galerie Møller Witt,

Aarhus, DK

2011 Dublin Contemporary, IE

Vad vi Är, Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, MX

Sometimes I wish I could just disappear, David Risley

Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

2009 Around the Corner, Fullersta Gård, curator Magnus

Karlsson, SE

Jenny Källman & Anna Bjerger, David Risley Gallery,

Copenhagen, DK

Women To Watch. The Figure Re-Refigured, Christies

King St., London, UK

Instantanés, SI/ Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris, FR

Remain in Light, W139, Amsterdam, NL

In the Pines, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

2008 Academia, La Chapelle de l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts,

Paris, FR

A Loaf of Bread..., Hudson Franklin, New York, US

Livingroom Paintings, Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago,

US

2007 Inaugural Group Show, Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago,

US

Citadel 1, David Risley Gallery, London, UK

2006 Pictures of You, ALP Gallery, Stockholm, SE

2005 Acid drops and Sugar Candy, Transition Gallery,

London, UK

2004 Twenty-four by Thirty, Keith Talent Gallery, London,

UK

2003 Selected Paintings, MWprojects, London, UK

The Rocca Pistola Collection, The New Inn Yard, Lon-

don, UK

Draw to be Alive, Hales Gallery, London, UK

2002 Immediate Gesture, Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New

York, US

Love (curated by David Risley) 14 Wharf Rd, London,

UK

Inagural exhibition, Neon, London, UK

Giardino, Museo d’Arte Contempotaneo, Sassoulo, IT

Gallerie RM Art, Essen, DE

2001 Zwemmer Gallery, Trinity College, London, UK

2000 Lost in Space, Farg Fabriken, Stockholm, SE

Ouvre d’etre, Temple Gallery, Rome, IT

Palace, Lock Up Gallery, London, UK

Homage to the Budokan, Foyles Gallery, London, UK

1999 Guest Artist at the British School, Rome, IT

ALDRIDGE BJERGER JOFFE, Equilibri Pecari, Rome, IT

Publications

Knausgård, Karl Ove & Karin Faxén Sporrong: Anna Bjerger,

Kristianstad:

Galleri Magnus Karlsson, David Risley Gallery & Kristianstads

konsthall, 2017

Karin Faxén and Christian Viveros-Fauné: Anna Bjerger – Paint-

ings, Stockholm:

Peter Bergman Gallery, David Risley Gallery& Galerie Gabriel Rolt,

2011

Selected bibliography

2017 “Artist in Focus - Anna Bjerger”, ARTLAND, March 21

2015 Hudson, Suzanne: “Painting Now”, Thames & Hudson

2014 “Anna Bjerger”, Transform Magazine, Aug

2011 “Anna Bjerger: A Long Glimpse”, Elephant Magazine

issue 9

1973 Born in Skallsjö, SE

1994-1997 BA, Fine Art, Central St. Martins School of Art and

Design, London, UK

1999-2001 MA, Painting, Royal College of Art, London, UK

Lives and works in Sweden

Works in Collections:

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, DK

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SE

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL

The AkzoNobel Art Foundation, NE

Collectie G+W Sittard, NE

Zabludowicz Collection, UK

Vinunic, SE

Sveriges Radio, SE

Selected solo exhibitions

2019 Silence, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, DK

2018 Lit, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, SE

Paintings, Le Manoir, Banyuls-sur-Mer, FR

Slivers, 0–0 LA, Los Angeles, USA

2017 Familiar Shadows, Kristianstads Konsthall,

Kristianstad, SE

2016 Elsewhere, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

Slips and Glimpses (with Robert Armstrong), Kevin

Kavanagh, Dublin, IE

2015 Divining, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm, SE

2014 Anna Bjerger, Monica de Cardenas Galleria, Milano, IT

The Rorschach in practice, Patriksson Communica-

tions, Stockholm, SE

2013 Just So, Fullersta gård, Stockholm, SE

6 unrelated soloshows, David Risley Gallery,

Copenhagen, DK

2012 Da Capo, Paradise Row, London, UK

Handling, Växjö Konsthall, SE

Sand in Your Eyes, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen,

DK

2011 Every Time I Close My Eyes, Galerie Gabriel Rolt,

Amsterdam, NL

2010 A Perfect Throw, Paradise Row, London, UK

Strange Talents, Peter Bergman, Stockholm, SE

2009 Invisibles, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, NL

2008 The Snails Trail, David Risley Gallery, London UK

Everything, ALP Gallery, Stockholm, SE

2007 Portrait of a Man, Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago, IL

2004 The Unexplained, MWprojects, London, UK

Angels in Your Beer, Pumphouse Gallery, London/

Oriel Mwldan, Cardigan, Wales, UK

2003 Angels in Your Beer, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff,

Wales, UK

2002 White Paintings, MWprojects, London, UK

1998 Lithuanian Artist Association, Vilnius, LT

Selected group exhibitions

2019 NATURE – Home and Workplace, Ljungbergmuseet,

Ljungby, SE

Works on Paper, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen,

DK

2018 NATURE – Home and Workplace, Johannes Larsen

Museet, Kerteminde, DK

O Youth and Beauty, Man Museum, Nuoro, IT

Chair, Chair, Chair, Lamp, Table, Bed, Sofa, David

Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

Cries and Whispers, Trafo Kunsthall, NO

2017 Submerge, Nordic Contemporary, Paris, FR

Look Me in the Eye Sister, Galeria Leyendecker,

Tenerife, ES

In the Pines –Slight Return, David Risley Gallery,

Copenhagen, DK

A New Look, Moniquemeloche, Chicgao, USA

2016 Art Alive Art Festival, Louisiana Museum of Modern

Art, Humlebæk, DK

ILLUMINATION, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,

Humlebæk, DK

2015 Adam, Andy, Alexander, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard,

Copenhagen, DK

c/o Hotel le Manoir, Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Hotel le

Manoir, Banyuls sur Mer, FR

I Love Paint II, Angell Gallery, Toronto, CA

Anna Bjerger

Shape, 2019

Oil on aluminium

120 cm x 120 cm

ABM-19-001

Swimmers, 2019

Oil on aluminium

140 cm x 140 cm

ABM-19-002

Coat, 2019

Oil on aluminium

90 cm x 90 cm

ABM-19-003

Spiral, 2019

Oil on aluminium

110 cm x 110 cm

ABM-19-004

Square, 2019

Oil on aluminium

140 cm x 140 cm

ABM-19-005

Rococo, 2019

Oil on aluminium

70 cm x 70 cm

ABM-19-006

Gaze, 2019

Oil on aluminium

70 cm x 70 cm

ABM-19-007

Rest, 2019

Oil on aluminium

50 cm x 50 cm

ABM-19-008

Pose, 2019

Oil on aluminium

40 cm x 40 cm

ABM-19-009

Glanze, 2019

Oil on aluminium

40 cm x 40 cm

ABM-19-010

Stretch, 2019

Oil on aluminium

40 cm x 40 cm

ABM-19-011

Felt, 2019

Oil on aluminium

40 cm x 40 cm

ABM-19-012

Diagonal, 2019

Oil on aluminium

110 cm x 110 cm

ABM-19-013

Fingers, 2019

Oil on aluminium

110 cm x 110 cm

ABM-19-014

Coast, 2019

Oil on aluminium

120 cm x 120 cm

ABM-19-015

Rock, 2019

Oil on aluminium

120 cm x 120 cm

ABM-19-016

Bench, 2019

Oil on aluminium

50 cm x 50 cm

ABM-19-017

Anna Bjerger

Silence

5 April – 15 June 2019

Works / Værker

FLÆSKETORVET 85 A

DK–1711 KØBENHAVN V

TEL +45 33 93 42 21

BJERGGAARD@BJERGGAARD.COM

TUESDAY-FRIDAY 1 PM–6 PM

SATURDAY 12 PM–4 PM

WWW.BJERGGAARD.COM

© The artist & Galleri Bo Bjerggaard

Translation English to Danish: Culturebites

ISBN 978-87-93134-38-6

Thanks to David Risley and Rosendahls