Mind Your Absence

In Mind Your Absence, three young artists explore the subject of letting go, daring to do it differently and putting up a fight. The exhibition explores those barriers that we sometimes create, when we try to get closer, whether they be sexual, emotional, or today even media driven.

Because in a time of high paced and all-encompassing input, whether through mass media, popular culture, or advertising, being present no longer necessarily means being attentive or available. And despite being more connected than ever, the fear of losing our con-nection with time and space, the people around us or ourselves, is still prevalent today. In this exhibition, we all take the main stage with both our presence and absence.

For the first time in Denmark, Arden Asbæk Gallery presents Dutch painter Sam Andrea. The young artist’s work contains both violence and romanticism, melancholia, and tense drama, and in that sense, Andrea explores our uncanny, self-destructive side. His works and their depiction of our most primal instincts are both frightening and exciting and stand as one big f*ck you to all that is staged or polished, gentrified and domesticated.

Danish visual artist Ditte Johanne Krogh Bertelsen occupies the floor with three old tv-screens. In her video works, Bertelsen explores and occupies the physical space on an abandoned building site, while also exploring what lies beneath the surface. Bertelsen works with the translation of physical sensations and inner mental states using her own body in various settings. The composition of the screens contributes to the narrative of the work, making both the creation and presentation an intuitive process.

Alongside, Bertelsen and Andrea, Vilmer Engelbrecht presents his anachronistic paintings, which borrow their form and styles from various parts of both art history and mythology, while also containing autobio-graphical elements. In his work, time and space dissolves, creating visual tales that are both universal and personal, recognizable and never before seen, through archetypical themes and characters, whether they be monsters or unrequited love.