Exhibition

Poul Gernes has not held a solo exhibition since January 1963 at the Young Danish Art Association. For several years, he has worked with the abstract possibilities of painting, and in 1963 he exhibited both a series of paintings and etchings, as well as some bold, new realist collages. At a car exhibition held in February-March this year, one of his works included the silhouette of a car with two people and some children, shaped as a hanging sculpture.

His new exhibition continues this turn towards a figurative expression. It is a human comedy, a documentation of people in visual form. A series of ready-made objects are displayed without any alterations. First, there is the human figure itself, represented by anatomical drawings educationally colored in soft tones, a skeleton, and some female mannequins. Clothes make the man – sitting in a chair is a man in a suit, the jacket hanging loosely over a wireframe body. His missing head is hidden under a newspaper, the figure quietly slumbers.

Clothing is presented both with and without a body: Hanging on a screen is an orange women’s coat with green stripes. A pair of long underpants dressing a slightly overweight man is stretched out – the absent figure in mid-run. The risk of a heart attack is acute; at that age, one must be careful.

There are objects from everyday life: a stack of dirty dishes, a bathroom cabinet, a bouquet of flowers, paper napkins, a towel. Additionally, these absolutely necessary items bought in discreetly managed shops. Art: a sentimental painting of monks around a table, a modern popular print of a voluptuous gypsy woman in rags and tatters, two etchings by Palle Nielsen. The surroundings, other people: two large picture mosaics, one featuring people of all ages, the other containing photographs of life’s major moments—weddings, christenings, etc. And finally, perspective: a board illustrating human evolution from prehistoric man to Homo sapiens. There is also a variation of a temple pediment from Olympia, featuring figures in modern clothing, including a self-portrait.

The works clearly relate to other tendencies in modern art, such as New Realism and Pop Art. One might think of George Segal’s figures, which many saw at Louisiana last year—highly realistic human figures in plaster placed within real interiors. However, Segal’s figures retain the distance of plaster casts; they resemble the casts from Pompeii found in museums. Gernes takes the illusion and “naturalism” much further. 

Unlike the New Realists, he has pursued a single idea: to rationally reflect life using found objects, placing them in a new context. Individually, the objects have limited function and only the meaning assigned to them in everyday life. Taken out one by one, many of them would “fall flat”—their pictorial power does not match their significance within the exhibition’s overall pattern. But this pattern—the human theatre—is it not worth risking an overcoat for?

The main library rejected the exhibition

Copenhagen Municipality’s Main Library did not find itself able to host the exhibition; after it was partially installed, it was rejected. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see most of it on-site, which forms the basis of this review. 

The library’s art department has, in recent years, made a remarkable contribution by hosting a series of exhibitions. Despite limited space, the premises are excellently suited—primarily because visitors come for books and therefore have a completely different mindset than at dedicated exhibition venues. The opening hours (10 AM – 8 PM) are also far more ideal than those of typical exhibitions. 

One must hope that the rejection of Poul Gernes’ exhibition does not signify a lasting shift away from the open-minded approach followed until now. That would be a most regrettable reversal.