Glenn Sorensen

Annet Gelink Gallery is proud to present eight new paintings of the in Åhus residing artist Glenn Sorensen (1968, Sydney) for his third solo-exhibition in the gallery. In 2000 the gallery organised his first solo-exhibition in the Netherlands and when the Artimo-publication on his work was published in 2001 - with texts by Jennifer Higgie and Lars Bang Larsen - and launched in the gallery, his new work on paper was presented in The Bakery.

Graduated in painting at the City Art Institute in Syndey (1986-88) and the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts (1990) Sorensen questioned his painting practice for a couple of years. He did no longer feel at home in the medium and turned to photography, installation art and performance. However, since 1996 he returned to painting - and with a new rigour. It is precisely in painting that he now sees a relevance and value that he earlier thought was missing. The realisation to be part of a long history did not make painting abundant but a challenging activity: how is it possible to make interesting contemporary painting?

For Sorensen the answer is close to home. With his paintings of subjects that he finds in his direct homely environment, he hopes to evoke intimate feelings in the viewer - close to his or her home. Instead of the big stories of historypainting, he choses to depict the little things that make life pleasant: plants, flowers, cigarettes and chairs among others.
However, more than the subject it is painting itself that is important to Sorensen. The eight new paintings in this exhibition are above all paintings about painting. It is through the way the paint is applied and the choice of colours and composition that the paintings obtain the intended atmosphere. These paintings are mainly of flowers, whereby it is unclear whether they are painted after nature, or after a poster, a dress or a wallpaperpattern. The colours suggest the latter: artificial purples, pinks and greens are placed against a dark background. The titles (Flowers and Son, Flowers and Neighbours, Hide and Seek) create a possibility to leave the depicted and drift of to one's own personal realms. The monochrome background adds to this: it forms a metaphorical space wherein one can pleasantly lose oneself. In this way, Sorensen hopes to give the viewer a silent moment of beauty - away from the daily routine and speed of contemporary life.