Glenn Sorensen: The Fly, the Dahlia and the Picket Fence
Annet Gelink Gallery proudly presents 'The Fly, the Dahlia and the Picket Fence', the sixth solo exhibition of Glenn Sorensen's work with the gallery. It brings together ten new paintings by Sorensen (1968, Sydney, AU).
The fly, the dahlia and the picket fence, these are things that could have come directly from a David Lynch film. Symbols of a bourgeois, daily life. Peaceful whilst at the same time, disturbing. Sorensen paints subjects from his home environment: his children, his flowers and plants, the neighbours' white garden gate, a CD cover. But here and there a snake slithers: as in a sweet nightmare a soft but sly subconscious is moving throughout his paintings, ready to strike.
Sorensen does not go looking for his subjects, they present themselves to him of their own accord. With an affectionate eye for his surroundings Sorensen records his daily reality. The details of that reality inspire him to paint his works, which can be best described as curious studies of environment, moment and emotions, rather than as portraits or landscapes. The boy in the painting '(My) Child' (2012) is the artist's son. With a now familiar restricted palette, we see how at this time of year his hair is blond, his skin light and his ears red. In other paintings emptiness plays an important role, rendered in black or white. This abyss, which stands sharply in contrast with the subject, makes tangible an atmosphere of tranquillity in time and space. This peace, or inactivity, prevents the viewer from reaching unambiguous conclusions. The story has neither a beginning nor an end. Despite the attention to detail, the paintings of Glenn Sorensen conceal more than they show. As for instance the white gate which surrounds the neighbours' flower garden.
Glenn Sorensen studied at the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts (1990) and the City Art Institute, Sydney (1986-88). His work is internationally exhibited. This year he had an exhibition with Eva Larsson at Kristianstads Konsthall in Sweden, and in 2010 a solo exhibition at the Pump House Gallery in London. His work could be viewed in many group exhibitions, including in the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2011), CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux (2010), Den Frie, Copenhagen (2009), P.A.N. Centre for Contemporary Art Naples (2005), and the 11 the Vilnius Painting Triennial, at the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania. Sorensen's paintings have been included in major exhibitions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, the Nordic Watercolour Museum, Skärhamn, Sweden and the Malmö Art Museum, Malmo, Sweden.
