Opening: Friday Aug 18. 2023. 5 – 8 pm.
Bricks Gallery is pleased to present Landscapes, Still Lifes & Other Things, the third solo exhibition by Luca Bjørnsten in the gallery. Born (1986) and based in Copenhagen, Bjørnstens new medium sized oil canvases and small wax pastels, depict a playful combination of modern landscape paintings and still lifes from the western world’s consumer society.
On road trips, we fuel our cars and stock up on supplies at gas stations. Bjørnsten’s ongoing interest in these mundane yet essential spaces reveals the beauty within the overlooked. With a touch of irony, the works Malibu and O Canada elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary, inviting us to contemplate the role of these rest stops in our journeys - both physical and metaphorical.
In works like Tulips, Kongens Nytorv and Hollywood, Bjørnsten guides us through the tourist’s lens, presenting renowned attractions and landmarks. Each work becomes a visual postcard, inviting us to reminisce about our own travels and experiences. In a world where nostalgia often intersects with the immediacy of social media, these works capture the allure of familiarity and the emotional resonance tied to iconic sights.
With a nod to our fleeting attention spans, works like Wimbledon, Final Lab and El Clasico playfully depict a spectrum of athletic endeavors. As we channel surf through random sports channels, these works remind us of the fragments of athleticism we encounter in our fast-paced digital age.
Join us in experiencing Luca Bjørnsten’s fusion of modern landscapes and satirical portrayals of exaggerated consumerism. Through his brushes and pencils, he captures the spirit of our times, prompting us to challenge our assumptions and find new meaning in the landscapes, still lifes, and other things that shape our world.
Luca Bjørnsten (b. 1986) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds a BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Recent exhibitions include Through the Fence at Albert Contemporary in Odense Denmark (2023), Art Central Hong Kong, JPS Gallery in China (2023), UVNT Art Fair at Gärna Gallery in Spain (2023), MEETING POINT at Gallerie Slika in France (2023), Days of Our Lives at Albert Contemporary in Odense, Denmark (2022), and CAT at Specta in Copenhagen, Denmark (2022), Enter Art Fair and Landscape at Bricks Gallery in Copenhagen (2021), Staying Alive at Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery in Malmö, Sweden (2021), The Show Must Go On and Plastasia at Bricks Gallery in Copenhagen (2020 and 2019 respectively). Landscapes, Still Lifes & Other Things is the artist’s third solo exhibition with Bricks Gallery.
