Works
CV
Press release
Martin Skauen
There`s Plenty of Gold, I`ve Been Told
24 January – 24 February 2008
Galleri MGM is pleased to announce Martin Skauen’s first solo exhibition. The artist will show new drawings from 2007 and 2008.
The title of the show ‘There’s plenty of gold, I’ve been told’ is the name of an Irish Shanty describing mans hunt for the Promised Land in order to discover a fortune. However, Skauen’s focus is rather on the absurdity imbedded in this desire, and the notion of pulling away from rationality and seeking meaning within the irrational.
In the show, a series of 8 works, ‘Lost Monuments’, revolves around the idea of feeling misplaced or condemned. The black and white pencil drawings portray various hybrid characters that are all somehow physically connected. The compositions are theatrical and grotesque, the proportions are exaggerated and the portrayed constellations are posing in frivol arrangements. Each work has its own title. Independently, they depict groups of figures, which at once can be perceived as a spiritual alliance and as an undefined, abstract feeling. The drawings touch upon the relationship between trust and adoration on one side and suspicion and reliance on the other side.
The large-scale work, ‘My Atlas’, portrays a powerful and erotic woman. The title, according to Greek mythology, refers to a Titian giant whose job was to hold up the world. Atlas was also the first King of Atlantis, which is a symbol of the ideal state. The name is also considered synonymous with utopia. In this work, Skauen’s tendency to explore the mystical and mythical realm is present.
Skauen is interested in depicting the absurdity in humanity and the notion of redemption. His work comments on the weaknesses of man, and questions the phenomenon of war and ritualistic group behaviour. Skauen employs an iconology whose origin can be traced both to the obsessive and nightmarish visions of Hieronymus Bosch and contemporary sadomasochistic comics. His works combine an apocalyptic pictorial language with subversive sarcasm, eroticism, violence, primal impulses and contemporary instability. His drawings evoke a diverse and multifaceted system of references; hybrid, lustful and week, tortured and destructive, often without any of the recognisable behavioural stereotypes of sex or age.
Since graduating from the The Academy of Fine Art in Oslo, Skauen's works have been subject to a number of gallery exhibitions in Oslo, London, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen, as well as several museum exhibitions. At present, he is part of the exhibition ‘Lights on’ at the Astrup Fearnley Museum and last year included participation at ‘1st Athens Biennial, Destroy Athens’ in addition to ‘Whenever it starts it is the right time’, curated by Chus Martinez, at the Frankfurter Kunstverein. This year Skauen will have solo exhibitions at Laura Bartlett Gallery in London and Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin.
Forthcoming exhibition: Vibeke Tandberg, 06.03 – 20.04.08
For further information or digital material, please visit our website www.gallerimgm.com or contact
Galleri MGM
Haxthausensgate 3
N-0263 Oslo
Email: info @ gallerimgm.com
Web: www.gallerimgm.com
Tel.: +47 23 27 06 76
Fax: +47 22 44 22 78