Søren Arildsen: Stay Still

16 aug 202428 sep 2024

Bricks Gallery is pleased to present Stay Still, a solo exhibition by Søren Arildsen, with an opening reception on Friday, August 16th, from 5 – 8 PM. This is the first exhibition featuring Arildsen’s coloured porcelain works, which will be presented alongside paintings on canvas.

In the hush of dawn,
when the world holds its breath,
stay still.

In the shadows between light,
where whispers of dreams reside,
stay still.

Amid the chaos and rush,
where time fractures and spills,
stay still.

Feel the weight of the moment,
a thousand stories in a heartbeat,
stay still.

Listen to the silence sing,
its melody soft, profound,
stay still.

In the spaces undefined,
where life breathes and renews,
stay still.

Conceptually and visually, the exhibition Stay Still investigates various states of stillness. It centers around moments when time and space pause before us, whether it be during the quiet glimpses of everyday life experienced alone or the warm encounters shared with loved ones. Each painting serves as an intimate fragment of existence, a small piece of a lived life, in what might otherwise feel fleeting.

By blending personal memories with imaginative characters placed in different painterly spaces, Arildsen depicts stillness as intimacy. For instance, in a sunlit room adorned with colorful pictures and flourishing plants, we see two individuals, perhaps lovers. Partly undressed in bed, surrounded by the softness of beige duvets, one lies on the bed doodling intuitively on the other’s back. This piece, aptly titled Decorated Muse, explores the quiet yet fond moments shared with a loved one. Here, Arildsen invites viewers to stay still for a while and delve into the piece’s layers of form, color, and meaning.

As a painter, Arildsen is preoccupied with the potential of color and the impact of art history in relation to contemporary painting. He actively explores different genres of painting, from classical motifs and compositions to techniques utilized in the postimpressionistic movement, and this new body of work debuts his colored porcelain works. While they complement and expand Arildsen’s artistic practice, these pieces also draw us in and call for a brief pause to contemplate their materiality, including their coats of color, their fragile yet firm nature, and their gleaming facades.

Søren Arildsen (b. 1996) is a Danish art student attending the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (DK). Recent exhibitions include Reminiscent City at Bricks Gallery (Copenhagen, DK, 2023), Tellus at Roskilde Kunstforening (Roskilde, DK, 2022), and The Night Swarms in Silk, a duo with Sally Santana at Bricks Gallery (Copenhagen, DK, 2021).

Kilde:
Bricks Gallery