Vilmer Engelbrecht | Cloverfield

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
Ovid, Ancient roman poet (43 BC – 17/18 AD)

When Vilmer Engelbrecht first came across the ancient myth and tales, he was struck by their seemingly everlasting relevance. These early writings served both as moral reflection or insight as well as artful storytelling about the world, from its creation to our actions and their impact. Mythology is prevalent in Cloverfield, where the young artist uses ancient characters to shed light on the feelings and matters that begin to blossom in the early years of adulthood. The works are characterized by the artist’s variation between wet, fast brush strokes, and a more time-consuming dry application of pure oil paint, giving the works a diffuse and almost dream-like effect, reminiscent of rabbit skin glue. Cloverfield is about love and loneliness, but the exhibitions is also a last hymn to a significant period in the artist’s life. Here, Engelbrecht invites us to a place, where many of his works were produced, focusing on the atmosphere in which they were created.

The title of the exhibition refers directly to a recreational area, located on the North side of Amager. The area sits as a lush green carpet, providing an undisturbed view of the city and its towers. To Engelbrecht, this area symbolizes the starting point of his artistic journey. The young artist began his career in a small studio at Kløvermarken, which provided the opportunity to work both alone and relentlessly. But this was also a space for meeting friends, long summer nights, talking and reading. Engelbrecht has from the start been productive and used the canvas to organize and process his thoughts about the future, friendship and love, and this introverted process has been essential in creating something, with Engelbrecht’s own words, real. In a time of self-realization and high pressure on young people to perform, partake and excel, withdrawing and taking your time to get lost in stories from another time is a much-needed way to – just for a moment – forget yourself.