A dialogue between Kaspar Bonnén and Karl Jonathan Sandegård
What is a friendship? How do we cross paths and form kinships that transcend art historical isms? The exhibition presents a juxtaposition of the two artists' works. What is their relationship, and how do their works play together?
The mutual relationships of the works perhaps revolve around the connection between silence and history, between contemplation and the stories that memory continues to evoke. The past holds us and pulls us inward in ways we may not always realise, just as the river carries us along.
Time and water flow like liquids through our bodies; memory moves like stones in a river. New patterns constantly emerge, and the world is reborn in ever-changing constellations. Sometimes, something becomes fixed and then vanishes, and we are overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.
Bills must be paid; small spaces become homes, materials are fixed and eroded, existing between the past and the volatility of liquids, amidst the social, personal, and testimonies of materials.
Kaspar Bonnén's works revolve around his exploration of his upbringing and family history, building on his two books, “Ind til min mor” and “Bag om min far,” as well as his exhibition, The Past Will Never Leave You. Through various tableaux or scenes, he depicts images or moments that reach into the past, attempting to capture significant (traumatic) events or mysteries related to history.
Karl Johnathan Sandegård's works focus on the transient nature of the moment and the traces that reality leaves behind. Memories appear as processed impressions, and abstract ideas take physical shape through material. In the work Déjà Vu, two identical objects meet – their legs fused together, illustrating the confusion of recognition. Layers of materials create new, temporary spaces where transformation occurs — a process in motion, without fixed form.
The works spread across different media...
