- BETTER SPECTACLES
NIK CHRISTENSEN - SEPTEMBER 6 — OCTOBER 11, 2008
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AMSTERDAM, August 25, 2008 – Galerie Gabriel Rolt is proud to present Better Spectacles, a solo exhibition of recent works on paper by Nik Christensen (1973, Bromley, UK), from September 6 to October 11.
By Gabrielle Kennedy
Power, its existence and the defiant way individuals adapt to its menacing presence is the subject of Nik Christensen's latest show, "Better Spectacles".
In the foreground of the figurative landscapes that literally sink under the strain of disaster, Christensen reinvents those everyday objects-as-icons that made his exhibition from two years ago so memorable.
A flying umbrella or a simple rowboat. A single bucket upside down, or hundreds laid out in equidistance matrix patterns; they could be catching water from one of the recent deluges or carrying an idea. It's the prosaic ordinariness of these objects in contrast with the apocalyptic backdrops that grounds these works making their relevance to the present unavoidable.
And it is happening now, to all of humanity, to the physical and to the material. Nothing and nobody escapes the pressure. The pressure for bigger and better in war, in art, in pop culture and even in nature where each new disaster seems to outdo the last in terms of spectacle and ruin.
In each one of these new works on paper something suggests at a reluctant acceptance of this harsh reality. Humanity, characterized by the familiar muzzled donkey and miniature draped figures Christensen has used in the past, survive, albeit with suppressed speech. Even with a bucket muzzling his snout, the donkey, who is still the main spectator, seems more aware of why the drama playing out before him has to be. The mouthless figures also, soldier on in a disciplined file, understanding and accepting but not necessarily surrendering to reality.
Even in the works devoid of life that depict some recent calamity, the characters' presence and silent survival is palpable. A house burns, torrential rain falls but humanity's seeps through and it's that comforting realization that creates a calm over even the most violent scenes.