Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
2021
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Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery is proud to present the solo exhibition Looking Is Not Seeing by the renowned Danish artist Mikkel Carl. The narrative of the exhibition is – as the title also indicate s– the juxtaposition between looking and seeing.
Looking Is Not Seeing is a further development of the artist's exhibition Panem et Circenses (Eng. Bread and Circus), which took place in the former Gallery Jacob Bjørn's high-ceilinged exhibition rooms in the old Ceres Brewery. Here, the focal point of the exhibition was a seemingly rusty steel plate of 3 x 5 meters, which stood leaning against the wall – as well as a number of gold mirror paintings.
In the exhibition Looking is Not Seeing, it’s the other way around. In the middle of Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery – another post-industrial space in the heart of Aarhus – the viewer can pass between two 3 x 3 meter upright arches that offer another illusion: to be constructed of shiny, battered brass plates.
The installation is accompanied by a series of abstract paintings that appear to be made of steel exposed to acid, oil, wind and weather. The works DNA lies between the expressive, procedural and minimal and all bear the title Triviality Affords the Supreme Idea of Depth. What at first glance may seem superficial is actually what gives depth to the conceptual identity of this series of paintings and ultimately challenge the spectator to identify the difference between looking and seeing.
As an extra installation feature, Mikkel Carl has chosen to paint the gallery’s huge mirror wall white. This masking of an architectural signature for the gallery refers directly back to the artist's work What Cannot Be Imagined Cannot Be Seen created for the exhibition Cool, Calm, and Collected at ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in 2017. In this exhibition the artist covered the walls with used MDF boards from previous installations at the museum. Precisely this kind of dialogue with previous works and exhibitions is a signature for Mikkel Carl, whose installation works have been incorporated into the permanent collection at several of the largest Danish museums.
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Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
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UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum composite panel
70 x 60 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
120 x 100 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
120 x 100 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum composite panel
100 x 120 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum composite panel
120 x 200 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum composite panel
120 x 200 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
LOOKING IS NOT SEEING, 2021 (detail)
Mirror foil, hot glue, imitation gold leaf on double-sided alu minum composite panel
Dimensions variable upon installation (each panel 290 x 29 0 x 3 cm)
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
180 x 150 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021 (detail)
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
180 x 150 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
120 x 100 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
LOOKING IS NOT SEEING, 2021 (detail)
Mirror foil, hot glue, imitation gold leaf on double-sided alu minum composite panel
Dimensions variable upon installation (each panel 290 x 29 0 x 3 cm)
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
LOOKING IS NOT SEEING, 2021 (detail)
Mirror foil, hot glue, imitation gold leaf on double-sided alu minum composite panel
Dimensions variable upon installation (each panel 290 x 29 0 x 3 cm)
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
LOOKING IS NOT SEEING, 2021 (detail)
Mirror foil, hot glue, imitation gold leaf on double-sided aluminum composite panel
Dimensions variable upon installation (each panel 290 x 29 0 x 3 cm)
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
LOOKING IS NOT SEEING, 2021 (detail)
Mirror foil, hot glue, imitation gold leaf on double-sided alu minum composite panel
Dimensions variable upon installation (each panel 290 x 29 0 x 3 cm)
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, acid on aluminum composite pan el
100 x 120 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, acid on aluminum composite panel
100 x 120 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, acid on aluminum composite panel
60 x 50 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, acid on aluminum composite pan el
90 x 75 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O
F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com
posite panel
120 x 100 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA OF DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum composite panel
90 x 90 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
UNTITLED (TRIVIALITY AFFORDS THE SUPREME IDEA O F DEPTH), 2021
Graphite paint, hot glue, iron paint, acid on aluminum com posite panel
90 x 90 cm
Photo: Jacob Friis-Holm Nielsen, Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
INSTALLATION VIEW
Mikkel Carl
Looking Is not Seeing
Bjorn & Gundorph Gallery
Aarhus, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
HARVEST MOON, 2020
Aluminum paint, aluminum leaf, hot glue, oxide powder, lac quer on double-sided wood panel
1.5 x 240 x 240 cm
The Permanent Collection
Randers Kunstmuseum / Randers Art Museum
Randers, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
HARVEST MOON, 2020
Aluminum paint, aluminum leaf, hot glue, oxide powder, lac quer on double-sided wood panel
1.5 x 240 x 240 cm
The Permanent Collection
Randers Kunstmuseum / Randers Art Museum
Randers, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
HARVEST MOON, 2020 (detail)
Aluminum paint, aluminum leaf, hot glue, oxide powder, lacquer on double-sided wood panel
1.5 x 240 x 240 cm
The Permanent Collection
Randers Kunstmuseum / Randers Art Museum
Randers, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
MARS, 2021
Copper paint, acid on aluminum panel
235 x 235 x 3 cm
Den Frie Udstilling
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
MARS, 2021 (detail)
Copper paint, acid on aluminum panel
235 x 235 x 3 cm
Den Frie Udstilling
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
MARS, 2021 (detail)
Copper paint, acid on aluminum panel
235 x 235 x 3 cm
Den Frie Udstilling
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
MARS, 2021 (detail)
Copper paint, acid on aluminum panel
235 x 235 x 3 cm
Den Frie Udstilling
Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art
Copenhagen, Denmark
Photo: Studio Mikkel Carl
Mikkel Carl
Nothing Lasts, but Nothing Dies
HUSET for Kunst og Design
Holstebro, Denmark
2021
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NOTHING LASTS, BUT NOTHING DIES, 2020
Masonit, kobbermaling, syr e, varm lim, sekskantskruer / Masonite, copper paint, acid, hot glue, hex head machine screws
d = 1098 cm, h = 244 cm
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Nothing Lasts, but Nothing Dies is the largest solo exhibition to date by Danish artist Mikkel Carl. Inspired by architects Johannes and Inger Exner, who designed the magnificent museum building, he shows several new large-scale works created especially for the three rooms: White Cube, Dome Hall, The Ship. The Cinema runs a video from his time as an art student.
HUSET for Kunst og Design (eng. House of Art and Design) in Holstebro is home to the former Jens Nielsen & Olivia Holm-Møller Museum. The website states: "The museum covered significant tendencies among artists who in their motives deal with the spiritual, ethical or religious and who put man and its relation to and recognition of the physical and metaphysical world at its center."
The building is thus in itself a place that may evoke thoughts about one's mortality. At the same time, the exhibition Nothing Lasts, but Nothing Dies is inspired by the Exner couple's method when they had to restore – for example, Koldingshus Castle ruin. They did not smooth things over as if nothing had happened. On the contrary, they chose materials and constructions that made themselves clear as supportive, the things one would have to do at present to preserve the past.
In his exhibition, Mikkel Carl turns this approach upside down. In an interplay with the existing architecture, he has created monumental works crafted from basic materials, which are quite different from what they appear to be.
Central to the White Cube, characterized by cylindrical and symmetrically placed skylights, one finds the exhibition's eponymous work: Nothing Lasts, but Nothing Dies resembles an enormous industrial cooking vessel made from remarkably patinated "copper."
In the museum courtyard stands a leafless "aluminum" tree on its head – as if struck by lightning. One could also see it as the thunderbolt itself right before the impact, the remaining root pointing towards the sky from where it came. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of Bladerunner 2, where the "tree of life" is far more dead than alive.
As the name suggests, The Dome is characterized by a giant round skylight window. On the floor lies a circular piece of "reinforced concrete"; perhaps the part one would have had to cut out of the ceiling had the window not been planned from the start. Alternatively, it could be the missing piece that would permanently close the hole in the ceiling. The upside is a downside, the hole in the whole, the past and future present.
In the long glass corridor, which leads visitors from The Dome to The Ship, is placed three 3m aluminum rods head to toe on the floor. Of course, they are pipes onto which the end parts have been "welded," but they still look undeniably heavy.
In the large studio called The Ship, a grid is made from 3x3 large rusty "steel" cubes, all measuring 122x122x122cm. Minimalisms' 'specific object' has been turned into a scenographical prop in some site-specific theater show called The Great Order of the Centuries Is Born Again.
The Cinema shows a more than 10-year-old work from Mikkel Carl's time as an art student at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. At first glance, it looks like the computer has paused, but in fact, perhaps unaware one experiences an analog rendition of the Mac screensaver called Flurry. The work acts as a digital lava lamp with its liquid nebulae, an infinite variation or eternal recurrence.
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FLURRY, 2008
Mp4 video
15:59
THE WIND ISN’T HOWLING OUTSIDE ANYMORE IT’S HOWLING WITHIN ME, 2020
Masonit, træ, beton, oxydfarve, armeringsjern / Masonite, wood, concrete, oxide powder, rebar
460 x 460 x 5 cm
FINDING SYMMETRY IN DIFFERENCE, 2020
PVC rør, MDF, aluminiumsmaling, grafit, varm lim / PVC tubes, MDF, aluminum paint, hot glue
d = 15 cm, l = 300 cm (3 stk. / pieces)
THE GREAT ORDER OF THE CENTURIES IS BORN AGAIN, 2020
Masonit, træ, grafitmaling, oxydfarve, lak, varm lim / Masonite, wood, graphite paint, oxide powder, lacquer, hot glue
122 x 122 x 122 cm (9 stk. / 9 pieces)
SECOND NATURE, 2019
Fundet træ, aluminiumsmaling, jordskrue / found tree, aluminum paint, ground screw
30 x 30 x 350 cm
